1. ¹Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Programme, Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2. ²Biostatistics Department, Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Correspondence: Dr T Seshadri, Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Programme, Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Room 5-303, 610 University Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G2M9. E-mail: Tara.Seshadri@uhn.on.ca

Received 8 November 2007; Revised 30 January 2008; Accepted 3 February 2008; Published online 10 March 2008.

Abstract

Previous reports in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) have demonstrated a significant association between the absolute lymphocyte count at day 15 (ALC-15) with survival. To evaluate this finding further, we analyzed 146 patients with relapsed/refractory HL who underwent AHCT to evaluate the relationship between lymphocyte counts at apheresis and at two time points (days 15 and 90) after AHCT with PFS. We found no association between the ALC-15 and the ALC-90 with PFS. We found lymphocyte counts at apheresis and disease sensitive to salvage chemotherapy were predictive of PFS. In conclusion, our study does provide some support for the theory that the immune system may be important in disease control but further and more detailed studies in this area are required.