Is there a role for autotransplants in patients with follicular lymphoma in the rituximab era?

Patients with low grad follicular lymphoma were shown to be able to achieve long-term disease-free survival when transplanted after relapse in the era before the wide spread use of rituximab. It appears that the availability of rituximab has not diminished the value of transplantation (i.e., either autologous or allogeneic) in the care of these patients. A similar overall survival and less treatment related toxicity make autologous transplantation the better choice for most patients transplanted at first treatment failure.