Hematopoietic SCT for peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Results of conventional chemotherapy for high-risk peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) are poor compared with those for their aggressive B-cell counterparts. We aim to review the current data on the use of hematopoietic SCT in these patients in both frontline and salvage settings. With respect to autologous SCT (ASCT), conclusions from retrospective studies are that ASCT in the salvage setting is as useful in PTCL as in aggressive B-cell lymphomas and also that consolidation in first complete response of high-risk patients has very good results when compared with conventional chemotherapy (with long-term PFS higher than 50%). From first frontline prospective clinical trials, it appears that ASCT is feasible and has a low TRM (<5%); consolidation in first complete response is associated with a very good outcome; around 25% of patients do not undergo ASCT due mainly to disease progression; new approaches aimed at increasing the number of chemosensitive patients should be found. Furthermore, 25-30% of patients deemed complete responders post transplant still relapse afterward. For all these mainly chemoresistant patients, there is preliminary evidence that allogeneic SCT (Allo-SCT) may produce a plateau in survival curves (with long-term PFS around 50%), which indicates a graft-versus-PTCL effect. For this reason, Allo-SCT procedures are the object of ongoing clinical trials.