title: The remission status before and the PCR status after high-dose therapy with peripheral blood stem cell support are prognostic factors for relapse-free survival in patients with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: It was the aim of our study to examine the clinical significance of t(14;18)-positive cells in samples from 47 patients with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) who underwent high-dose therapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation. At the time of PBSC mobilization, 25 patients were in first remission, while 22 patients had a history of previous treatment failure. At the same time, 43 patients had polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive cells in samples from bone marrow (BM) and/or peripheral blood (PB). Independent of the remission status, high-dose cytarabine and mitoxantrone with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) support were administered for PBSC mobilization. Following high-dose conditioning therapy which consisted of cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg) and hyperfractionated total body irradiation (TBI, 14.4 Gy) or BEAM (carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan), 34 patients received PCR-positive and 13 patients received PCR-negative autografts. After a median follow-up time of 20 months (range, 6-50) post-transplantation, 33 patients were in remission, while 14 patients had relapsed after a median time of 14.5 months (range, 10-42). Using the Andersen-Gill proportional hazards regression model for the analysis of relapse-free survival, we found that PCR-positive findings in samples from BM and/or PB at any given time-point after transplantation were associated with an increased estimated hazard ratio of 4.5 in comparison with a PCR-negative finding (P=0.013). On the other hand, patients included while they were in first remission had a smaller estimated hazard ratio of 0.3 when compared with patients with a history of previous treatment failure (P=0.048). For the latter group of patients, this translates into a significantly smaller probability of relapse-free survival in comparison to patients who were in first remission at the time of PBSC-mobilization (P=0.012). In conclusion, the remission status of the patients before autografting and the PCR status as assessed on the occasion of follow-up examinations are significant prognostic parameters for relapse-free survival in patients with follicular lymphoma undergoing high-dose therapy with PBSC autografting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine V, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moos
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002883:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019650:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008942:Mitoxantrone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D008942:Mitoxantrone