New research indicates that it is safe for elderly patients to receive autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). These findings contradict the conventional belief that it was unsafe for older people to receive ASCT.
The research team was led by Dr. Andrew Pecora, president of Physician Services at Hackensack Meridian Health. He found that patient with comorbidities like diabetes or renal insufficiency could still receive a stem cell transplant safely.
Dr. Pecora’s study involved a group of 604 patients with multiple myeloma. Forty-four of the patients were in the 75 to 84 year age range, while 560 were younger than 75 when they received the transplant.
The researchers found that the three year survival rate for older patients was 83.7% and 82.0% for patients younger than 75. The median survival rate was 93.3 months and 127.8 months for older and younger patients respectively. The three year progression-free survival (PFS) was 51.7% for patients over 75 and 46.0% for patients under 75.
The research team also found that older patients could tolerate high-dose melphalan conditioning which is used prior to a stem cell transplant to prepare the body.
Dr. Pecora suggests that a larger trial is required, saying “We’ll need to do a larger prospective trial to prove it, but our data strongly suggest that you can safely apply ASCT in an appropriate 75-year-old or older patient, meaning that they have the right performance status, no comorbidities, and proper vital organ function. With those caveats being addressed, you can offer this potentially lifesaving therapy to an older patient.”
These findings mean that millions of older people may now be considered for stem cell transplants, where previously it was thought to be too dangerous.
Source: Stem Cell Transplantation Feasible in Elderly Patients with Myeloma
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