Outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for lymphomas: a single-institution experience

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation offers the opportunity for extended survival in patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin lymphomas who relapsed after, or were deemed ineligible for, autologous transplantation. This study reports the cumulative experience of a single center over the past 14 years aiming to define the impact of patient, disease, and transplant-related characteristics on outcomes.

All patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin lymphomas who received allogeneic transplantation from 2000 to 2014 were retrospectively studied.

Forty-one patients were reviewed: 10 (24%) had Hodgkin's and 31 (76%) had non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The median age was 50 years and 23 (56%) were male. The majority of patients (68%) had had a prior autologous transplantation. At the time of allogeneic transplantation, 18 (43%) patients were in complete and seven (17%) were in partial remission. Most (95%) patients received reduced-intensity conditioning, 49% received matched sibling donor grafts, 24% matched-unrelated donor grafts, and 27% received double umbilical cord blood grafts. The 100-day treatment-related mortality rate was 12%. After a median duration of follow up of 17.1 months, the median progression-free and overall survival was 40.5 and 95.8 months, respectively. On multivariate analysis, patients who had active disease at the time of transplant had inferior survival.

Allogeneic transplantation results extend survival in selected patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin lymphomas with low treatment-related mortality. Patients who have active disease at the time of allogeneic transplantation have poor outcomes.