Allogeneic stem cell transplantation for mantle cell lymphoma--does it deserve a better look?

Mantle cell lymphoma is a subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mantle cell is generally considered incurable with a median overall survival of about 3 years. It is most common in 50 - 70 year old individuals and for this reason transplantation is not a common therapeutic option. Autologous stem cell transplantation does not appear to improve survival with most patients relapsing after transplant and no disease-free plateau. We present 6 mantle cell patients that had a mean of 3 different types of therapy prior to allogeneic transplantation. Allogeneic transplantation is associated with substantial mortality post-transplant from acute toxicity and GVHD. Despite the extensive amount of pretransplant therapy in our patient population, there was no transplant related mortality. All patients are alive and in remission a median of 4.3 plus years after transplantation. Survival from the date of diagnosis is a median of 6.5 plus years. The results of this series would suggest that in a selected group of patients allogeneic stem cell transplantation may be the treatment of choice for lymphomas not curable by standard therapy or autotransplant.