title: Long-term follow-up of autologous stem cell transplantation for patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma who had bone marrow involvement at initial diagnosis in the pre-rituximab era.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  High-dose therapy (HDT) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an important treatment option for selected patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma; however, the effectiveness of HDT for patients with bone marrow (BM) involvement of lymphoma cells is not well defined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between February 1991 and December 2001, 57 patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma were treated with HDT and ASCT. Thirteen of 57 patients who had BM infiltration at initial diagnosis were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median follow-up was 11.5 years. Eleven of 13 patients (85%) exhibited complete remission after HDT. The overall survival (OS) at 10 years was 49%, and the median survival time was 74.3 months. Meanwhile, the probability of OS at 10 years for 44 patients who did not have BM disease was 60%. There was no significant difference in OS (P=0.895) between patients with or without BM disease at initial diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High-dose therapy treatment followed by ASCT might save some groups of patients with lymphoma regardless of BM involvement at initial diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. yano@jikei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dobashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Osawa
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takei
authors.forename: Shinobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahara
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Otsubo
authors.forename: Yoji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogasawara
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Yasutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hoshi
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Usui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D000069283:Rituximab; D015996:Survival Rate; D013995:Time; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000069283:Rituximab