Three-year survival rates for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation range from 36% to 58% and are better than those seen with chemotherapy alone, she said.
“The problem of course is that not many patients receive the planned auto-graft, even if that’s the intention, either because of failure to respond to salvage regimen or early disease progression, which happens before the transplant is able to take place,” she said,
A reasonable alternative for patients with relapsed/refractory PTCL is allogeneic transplantation, as shown in a 2008 study.
Among 77 patients – 57 of whom had received myeloablative conditioning, 31 of whom were in complete remission, and 26 of whom had partial response at the time of transplants – the 5-year treatment-related mortality rate was 33%. However, the 5-year event-free and overall survival rates were 53% and 57%, respectively. Patients with AITL had especially good outcomes (J Clin Oncol. 2008 May 10;26[14]:2264-71).