The controversy over high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplant for breast cancer

In the 1990s more than 41,000 patients underwent high-dose chemotherapy plus autologous bone marrow transplant (HDC-ABMT) for breast cancer, despite a paucity of clinical evidence of its efficacy. Most health plans reluctantly agreed to cover the treatment in response to intensive political lobbying and the threat of litigation. The results of five recent major randomized trials showed that HDC-ABMT offers no advantage over standard-dose treatment for breast cancer. Our experience with HDC-ABMT coverage cautions against allowing politics to overwhelm science in the area of evaluating experimental procedures, and against relying on the courts as a means of resolving disagreements about coverage of these interventions.