CEACAM8

Children affected by high risk or relapsed/refractory leukaemia have a poor prognosis, with an increased risk of relapse. These patients generally need treatment intensification and a bone marrow transplantation (BMT).
Nevertheless, with conventional treatent the risk of relapse after transplant remains high.
Radioimmunotherapy provides a way to deliver high dose irradiation to the bone marrow (where leukaemia resides), while sparing normal organs and tissues from its toxicity.This can be achieved by linking a radioactive molecule (Yttrium90) to an antibody that, once infused in the blood, targets marrow/leukemic cells.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as melphalan, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies can find cancer cells and carry cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. A stem cell transplant using stem cells from the patient may be able to replace blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy and radiolabeled monoclonal antibody.
PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well high-dose melphalan works when given with or without radiolabeled monoclonal antibody in treating patients with multiple myeloma undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant.