The New England journal of medicine
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It is uncertain whether mortality rates among patients who have undergone bone marrow transplantation return to the level of the mortality rates of the general population. We analyzed the characteristics of 6691 patients listed in the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry. All the patients were free of their original disease two years after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Mortality rates in this cohort were compared with those of an age-, sex-, and nationality-matched general population. Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to identify risk factors for death more than two years after transplantation (late death). ⋯ In patients who receive an allogeneic bone marrow transplant as treatment for acute myelogenous or lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, or aplastic anemia and who are free of their original disease two years later, the disease is probably cured. However, for many years after transplantation, the mortality among these patients is higher than that in a normal population.