A multi-center retrospective analysis of 473 adults with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has shown that hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes using matched sibling and unrelated donors are comparable. Patients had a median age at transplant of 46 years (range, 18-69) and median follow-up time was 45 months. Three-year survival for sibling HCT (n=301) and unrelated donor HCT (n=172) was 42% and 37%, respectively; (p=ns). A multivariate analysis found no association between donor type and non-relapse mortality, relapse rate, progression-free survival, and survival. The authors conclude that unrelated donor HCT is not inferior to sibling HCT, and provides “a reasonable therapeutic approach for DLBCL patients, having no HLA-identical sibling available.”
Avivi I, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant
Related, Unrelated Donor HCT Comparable in DLBCL
Feb 2014