Evaluation of Lymphoma Patients Receiving High-Dose Therapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: Experience of a Single Center

The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of relapsed or refractory Hodgkin (HL) and non-Hodgkin Lymphomas (NHL) patients who underwent autologous stem cell transplantation supported high-dose chemotherapy (HDC–ASCT). Forty patients who received HDC–ASCT between November 2004 and February 2014 for relapsed or refractory HL and NHL were analysed retrospectively. There were 22 patients with HL and 18 patients with NHL. Thirty-eight patients could be evaluated after transplantation, as two of the patients died in the early post-transplantation period. We identified complete response in 24 patients (63%), partial response in 8 patients (21%), stable disease in 4 patients (11%) and progressive disease in 2 patients (5%). In all patient groups, 5-year overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) were 43 and 40%, respectively; however there was no statistically significant survival difference between HL and NHL patients after ASCT, and 5-year OS and EFS were 47, 40 and 53%, 23%, respectively (p = 0.43, p = 0.76). Chemosensitive relapse had a positive impact on OS (p = 0.02). This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of HDC–ASCT as salvage therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory NHL and HL. Chemosensitive relapse is the most important prognostic factor determining the outcome of the ASCT.