Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) carries a poor prognosis with standard therapy. Both allogeneic (ALLO) and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) approaches have been used to intensify therapy in an attempt to achieve lasting remissions. 77 patients were transplanted at City of Hope over a 10-year period (1994–2003), including 13 ALLO and 64 ASCT.

Demographics: The majority of patients were male (92% ALLO, and 73% ASCT). Median age was significantly younger for the ALLO, 47 years vs. 55 years for ASCT (p=0.003). ALLO patients had received more prior regimens than ASCTs-- avg 3 in ALLO and 1 in ASCT (p-value 0.0031). Median time from diagnosis to transplantation was 1.3 years for ALLO, 0.81 for ASCT. For ALLO patients, 8% were in first complete remission (CR1), 62% in second or subsequent remission, 23% in relapse, and 8% in unknown status. For ASCT patients, 47% were in CR1, 31% in second or subsequent remission, 14% in relapse, 2% in unknown status.

Methods: Conditioning regimens for ASCT include FTBI/VP16/CTX (36), BCNU/VP16/CY (14), BEAM (2), Zevalin/BEAM (4), and other (8). One patient received an ASCT transplant, then received a reduced intensity ALLO transplant at the time of second relapse. Conditioning for ALLO included FTBI/CTX (9), Flu/Mel (3), or BU/CY (1),

Results: Median follow-up was 57 months for ALLO, and 26 months for ASCT. 3-year Overall Survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), and relapse rate was 51%, 53%, and 14% , respectively, for ALLO, and 66%, 57%, and 27% for ASCT. Patients transplanted in 1st CR had a significantly higher 3-year OS (85% vs. 52%, p = 0.0153) and PFS (78% vs. 44%, p = 0.027) a trend to a lower RR than patients transplanted in more advanced disease status.

Conclusions: MCL patients transplanted in CR1 fared better than those transplanted with more advanced disease status, regardless of transplant approach. While relapse rates were lower in ALLO patients, this did not translate into improvement in OS or PFS, possibly due to a higher transplant related mortality (TRM). Analysis of PFS curves suggests no plateau on the ASCT curve, while late relapses were uncommon in ALLO patients.

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