Stem Cell Transplant Improves Survival in Transformed Lymphomas

A retrospective study shows that autologous stem cell transplants can improve outcomes for patients whose indolent lymphoma has transformed into a more aggressive lymphoma.

Dr. Carsten Madsen of Denmark's Aarhus University Hospital and colleagues identified 85 patients from a registry that indicated they had transformed indolent lymphoma. 72 of them had follicular lymphoma of grades 1 through 3A.

Out of the 85 subjects, 54 (64 percent) underwent ASCT as consolidation therapy and 31 (36 percent) did not, while all patients were treated with chemotherapy regimens.

Results showed that overall survival was 62 percent for those who underwent ASCT following chemotherapy, and 36 percent for those who did not have the transplant. Meanwhile the study group also did better in progression-free survival (PFS), with 53 percent among the transplant group and just 6 percent among the non-transplant group.

Patients who had not previously received rituximab saw greater benefit from the ASCT, the team reported.

Keep in mind this was a retrospective study, meaning that researchers went into the medical files to find patients who have already been treated. If they had recruited patients for treatment, this would be called a prospective study.

Source: Annals of Oncology