Reduced intensity allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an effective salvage treatment strategy in patients with follicular lymphoma whose disease recurred following a prior autologous HCT, a study published in the journal Annals of Oncology has shown.1
Because patients with follicular lymphoma who experience relapse after an autologous HCT may be treated with a variety of therapies, including reduced intensity allogeneic HCT, researchers sought to evaluate outcomes of patients who undergo reduced intensity salvage allogeneic HCT.
For the retrospective study, investigators analyzed data from 183 patients with follicular lymphoma who had undergone an autologous HCT. Patients received a reduced intensity allogeneic HCT a median of 30 months after undergoing an autologous HCT, and prior to the allogeneic HCT, patients had received a median of 4 lines of therapy.
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Of those, 81% had chemosensitive disease and 16% had chemoresistant disease. Forty-seven percent and 53% of grafts were donated from sibling and unrelated donors, respectively.
Results showed that at a median follow-up of 59 months, the nonrelapse mortality rate at 2 years was 27%. The median duration of remission after autolgous HCT and reduced intensity allogeneic HCT was 14 and 43 months, respectively.
Furthermore, researchers found that the 5-year relapse/progression rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival were 16%, 48% and 51%, respectively; all were associated with age and disease status at the time of allogeneic HCT.
The findings suggest that reduced intensity salvage HCT might overcome the poor prognostic impact of early relapse after autologous HCT in patients with follicular lymphoma.
REFERENCE
1. Robinson SP, Boumendil A, Finel H, et al. Reduced intensity allogeneic stem cell transplantation for follicular lymphoma relapsing after an autologous transplant achieves durable long term disease control. An analysis from the Lymphoma Working Party of the EBMT [published online ahead of print March 8, 2016]. Ann Oncol. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdw124.
