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Allografting

Long-term event-free survivors after high-dose therapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation for low-grade follicular lymphoma

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 36, pages 955–961 (2005)Cite this article

Summary:

Although follicular lymphoma (FL) is generally responsive to conventional-dose chemotherapy, improved survival in patients with this disease has been difficult to demonstrate. High-dose chemo/radiotherapy followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) can improve response rates, although its effects on survival remain controversial. Between 1990 and 2003, we transplanted 49 patients with low-grade FL at our institution. Twenty-two patients (45%) had undergone histologic transformation at the time of ASCT. In all, 44 patients (90%) had relapsed disease and five patients (10%) were resistant to chemotherapy at the time of transplantation. After ASCT, 30 patients (61%) were in complete remission (CR). The median overall survival (OS) has not been reached, while the median event-free survival (EFS) is 2.4 years. At a median follow-up of 5.5 years (longest 12.4 years), a plateau has been reached with 56% of patients remaining alive, and 35% event-free. ASCT was well tolerated except for two (4%) treatment-related deaths. In multivariable analysis, CR after ASCT and age less than 60 years are the best predictors of EFS and OS. ASCT is thus a safe therapeutic approach in FL, resulting in long-term EFS and OS for some patients, even with transformed disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone Marrow & Stem Cell Transplantation Program and Lymphoma Program, The Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    C Andreadis, S J Schuster, E A Chong, J Svoboda, S M Luger, D L Porter, D E Tsai, S D Nasta, R L Elstrom, S C Goldstein, L H Downs, P A Mangan, K A Cunningham, K A Hummel, D L Siegel, E Glatstein & E A Stadtmauer

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    C Andreadis & P A Gimotty

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  1. C Andreadis
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Correspondence to C Andreadis.

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Andreadis, C., Schuster, S., Chong, E. et al. Long-term event-free survivors after high-dose therapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation for low-grade follicular lymphoma. Bone Marrow Transplant 36, 955–961 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705178

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