Patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) experiencing therapy failure within 2 years of frontline chemotherapy had better outcomes with an autologous HCT (auto-HCT) compared to a matched cohort of patients who did not undergo auto-HCT. Five-year overall survival in the two groups was 73% vs. 60%, respectively (p=0.05).
In this multi-center study, 175 patients with early therapy failure were identified in the transplant outcomes database of the CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®) who had undergone auto-HCT within one year of their early therapy failure. These patients were compared to 174 patients who were studied in the 2015 National LymphoCare Study (NLCS) who did not undergo transplantation.
In a multivariate analysis, use of auto-HCT within one year of early frontline chemotherapy failure was also associated with significantly reduced mortality (HR, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.94; p=0.02).
The researchers concluded that their results from this unique collaboration between the NLCS and CIBMTR support consideration of early consolidation with auto-HCT in select patients with FL experiencing early therapy failure.
Casulo C, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant