Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (ASCT) for Elderly Patients (≥ 60 Years) with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL): An Analysis Based on EBMT Registry.

Limited data is available on feasibility and efficacy of ASCT in elderly patients with NHL.

Patients: In 2000–2005 15869 NHL patients with ASCT were reported to EBMT database, 3133 (20%) were ≥ 60 years. Only patients with MED-B dataset and those with either diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), mantle cell (MCL) or follicular lymphoma (FL) were subjected to more detailed analysis. This group included 906 elderly NHL patients (median age 63 years, range 60–75) (DLBCL, n = 463; MCL, n = 208; FL, n = 235) who were compared with 3661 patients < 60 years (DLBCL, n = 2149; MCL, n = 435; FL, n = 1077) regarding outcome. Bulky disease was more common in younger patients (26% vs. 15%, p < 0.001) as well as B-symptoms at diagnosis (42% vs. 36%, p = 0.02). Elderly patients had received more often at least two treatment lines before ASCT (70% vs. 59%, p<0.001). The median follow-up for the surviving patients was 14 months.

Results: Non-relapse mortality (NRM) was higher in patients ≥ 60 years of age: 3.8% vs.2.3% at 100 days, 6.9% vs. 3.9% at 1 year and 9.4% vs. 5.8% at 3 years (p<0.001). No differences in NRM were observed between patients aged 60–64 years (n = 633) and those aged 65–69 (n = 240). A higher NRM was observed in DLBCL and MCL patients compared to FL patients (p=0.001and p=0.002, respectively). Other variables associated with a higher NRM were an elevated LDH at diagnosis (p=0.04), ≥ 2 treatment lines before ASCT (p<0.001); a poor performance status at ASCT (p<0.001); not being in CR1 at ASCT (chemosensitive disease vs. CR1, p=0.02; chemorefractory disease vs. CR1, p<0.001) and BM as stem cell source (p=0.02). In multivariate analysis, elderly patients showed a higher NRM [RR = 1.6 (CI 1.2–2.1), p=0.001]. In patients with DLBCL, age ≥ 60 years at ASCT was associated with a trend to a higher risk of relapse or progression (p =0.07) and a worse PFS (p=0.008). PFS at 2 years was 69% vs. 79% for patients in CR1 and 52% vs. 60% for patients with sensitive disease at ASCT, respectively. In MCL, elderly patients had worse PFS (p=0.008). PFS at 2 years was 78 vs. 81% for MCL patients in CR1 and 52% vs. 67%, respectively for those patients autografted with sensitive disease. Older age was not a significant prognostic factor either for relapse rate or for PFS in patients with FL. PFS at 2 years was 69% and 81% for FL patients in CR1, and 69% and 69% for FL patients with sensitive disease, respectively.

Conclusions: ASCT is feasible in selected NHL patients aged 60–69 years. The outcome is promising taking into account the generally poorer prognosis of lymphomas in elderly population.