Autologous bone marrow transplantation in non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients following different conditioning regimens: an 11-year single-center quasi-experimental study.

PURPOSE: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) constitutes 90% of all lymphomas and accounts for 2.8% of new cancer cases and 2.6% of cancer-related deaths in 2020. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains the standard treatment for refractory or relapsed NHL. Due to the shortage of carmustine, this study aimed to compare the outcomes of patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) with conditioning regimens that either include or exclude this drug over an 11-year period.

METHODS

This retrospective study included a cohort of 240 patients with NHL who underwent ASCT with an EAM conditioning regimen, both with and without carboplatin. Following informed consent, clinical data from patients who underwent transplantation between March 2006 and May 2017 were collected. Patients were followed to assess overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) as primary endpoints.

RESULTS

No significant differences were observed between the survival outcomes of the two groups with differing conditioning regimens (P = 0.27 for OS; P = 0.49 for DFS). The 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 81% and 74.8%, respectively, with a median follow-up of 74 months. The 3-year and 5-year DFS rates were 66.6% and 62.1%, respectively. OS and DFS were significantly higher in patients with B-cell lymphomas compared to those with T-cell lymphoma (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Our real-world data indicate that the addition of carboplatin to the EAM conditioning regimen does not significantly affect survival outcomes for patients with NHL undergoing ASCT.