The UConn Bone Marrow Transplant Program is approved for all types of cord transplants, so patients who are candidates for this therapy do not need to travel out of state. In two pilot studies we are testing ways to prevent recurrences of the cancer from days 30 to 300 post-transplant when the patients' immune system is not functioning. We are giving patients with metastatic breast cancer maintenance chemotherapy with monthly Gemcitabine post-transplant. The pilot study showed a dramatic increase in disease free survival and over-all survival. We have now embarked on a large scale, controlled, randomized study of maintenance chemotherapy with Gemcitabine versus observation.
All patients transplanted for metastatic breast cancer with our protocol are eligible for the study.
We anticipate the study to last for two years. We hope that our referring physicians will collaborate with us and administer the drug in their offices. In the other pilot study, patients with locally advanced breast cancer or Hodgkin's disease are receiving periodic infusions of mature T cells 30 to 120 days post-transplant in order to maintain tumor remission. We hope to adoptively transfer immunity to not only maintain control over minimal residual disease, but also to reduce the incidence and severity of post transplant infectious complications. So far, the study is restricted to patients with locally advanced breast cancer.