High-dose therapy in lymphomas: a review of the current status of allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantation in Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Autologous stem cell transplantation has proven to be beneficial in selected patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). In patients with HD, transplantation appears to increase event-free survival in patients who fail to enter complete remission with initial therapy. When a patient relapses after a complete remission, transplantation is probably the best option and particularly so if the remission lasted less than 1 year. Transplantation as part of primary therapy for very high-risk patients may be beneficial, but is not standard therapy at this time. For patients with diffuse large-cell NHL, transplantation can be considered standard therapy for relapsed patients if they have chemotherapy-sensitive disease. The use of transplantation for high-risk patients in complete remission is promising, but definite recommendations cannot be made at this time. For follicular lymphomas, selected patients seem to benefit and studies are ongoing. Finally, the use of allogeneic stem cell transplantation can be useful in a select group of younger patients.