Objective: To investigate the effects of treatment of malignant lymphoma (ML) by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) combined with high dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Methods: From June 1991 to October 2002, 56 patients, aged 9 - 65 years, with ML, 44 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and 12 Hodgkin's disease (HD) were treated with AGSCT combined with high dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Among them, 12 received autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) and 44 received autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT), In the latter the APBSCs were mobilized by carboplatin and etoposide (CE) or CHOP (CTX, ADM, VCR, PDN) plus granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and/or granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) 10 micro g/kg/d. Pretreatment included BEAM (BCNU, Vp-16, AraC, MEL) or MEL 140 mg/m(2) + Vp-16,200 mg/L total body irradiation (TBI) 8 Gy. The patients were flowed up for 40 - 4,310 days with a median of 1,820 days.
Results: Hematopoietic reconstruction was observed in all patients. The 1, 2, and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 87.5%, 60.7%, and 57.1% respectively, with the longest survival of 11 years. Fourteen patients developed relapse. No transplantation-related death was seen.
Conclusion: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation combined with high dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy is effective on Ml. AHSCT shows a more rapid effect on hematopoietic reconstruction than ABMT.