The study aim is to evaluate the influence of the anti-T-lymphocyte globulin ATG-Fresenius S given pre-transplant in addition to standard GvHD prophylaxis with cyclosporine A and a short course of methotrexate with respect to efficacy and safety.

To assess the efficacy of ATG-FRESENIUS S in addition to standard therapy (cyclosporine A / methotrexate) with respect to early treatment failure defined by the occurrence of severe acute GvHD grade III-IV or early mortality within 100 days post transplantation compared to standard therapy alone.

All patients receive myeloablative therapy. Recommended regimens: For patients with ALL: fractionated TBI (8-12 Gy) plus cyclophosphamide (1-2 x 60 mg/kg) [etoposide/melfalan are also allowed]. For all other indications: either TBI (8-12 Gy) or busulfan (per os 14-16 mg/kg b.w. or equivalent for IV administration) plus cyclophosphamide (1-2 x 60 mg/kg) or thiotepa ≥ 15 mg/kg or BCNU ≥ 300 mg/m2.

Conditioning regimens may differ from centre to centre; each centre decides for constant (disease specific) regimen(s) throughout the whole study period.

Standard GvHD prophylaxis consists of cyclosporine A (target trough level ≥ 200 ng/ml starting from day -1 until day +100) and short course methotrexate (15 mg/m2 at day +1, 10 mg/m2 at days +3, +6 and +11).

Inclusion Criteria:

Participation of patients in simultaneous diagnostic and comprehensive therapeutical trials for certain entities is allowed.

• Patients 18-60 years of age;

• Patients suffering from one of the following diseases:

  • AML: 1st complete remission (CR1) or beyond 1st remission (CR2, CR3), in relapse, not in remission (primary refractory, induction failure);
  • ALL: 1st complete remission (CR1) or beyond 1st remission (CR2, CR3), in relapse, not in remission (primary refractory, induction failure);
  • MDS, if transplantation is medically indicated: RA (with poor risk factors as classified by the International Prognostic Scoring System of MDS), RARS, RAEB, RAEB-t, CMML;
  • CML: beyond 1st chronic phase (CP1): accelerated phase, blast crisis, chronic phase (CP2, CP3);
  • OMF, if transplantation is medically indicated: Osteomyelofibrosis;

• Patients designated to undergo allogeneic bone marrow transplantation or allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation;

• Patients with a HLA-A, -B (DNA-based, 2 digits), HLA-DRB1, -DQB1 (DNA-based 4 digits) matched (8 out of 8 alleles) unrelated donor; serological typing is not required

• Patients with a Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS): > 60%;

• Patients who underwent all obligatory screening examinations (special examinations within the last 4 weeks);

• Patients who have given their written informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with significant cardiac (e.g. ejection fraction <50%), pulmonary (e.g. FEV1 <50%), renal (e.g. creatinine > 1.5 mg/dl), metabolic (e.g. bilirubin > 2.0 mg/dl) and/or CNS disease, currently uncontrolled by treatment, which may interfere with the completion of the study;
• Patients with any bacterial, viral, or fungal infections not under adequate antimicrobial control;
• Patients who are known to have serum hepatitis or who are carriers of the Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs-Ag), or Hepatitis C antibody, or who are known to have a positive result to the test of HIV antibodies;
• Patients with any additional concurrent or previous malignant disease;
• Patients with known hypersensitivity to rabbit immunoglobulin antibodies in past patient history or with known allergy to any substance chemically related to the study medication;
• Pregnant (β-HCG test) or lactating women;
• Patients who formerly underwent transplantation including previous autologous transplants;
• Patients who cannot communicate reliably with the investigator or who are not likely to cope with the requirements of the study.