Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is able to induce long-term remissions in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma: a retrospective study from the lymphoma working party of the European group for blood and marrow transplantation.

PURPOSE: To analyze the long-term outcome in terms of nonrelapse mortality (NRM), relapse rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) treated with allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (alloSCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-five patients with AITL who had undergone an alloSCT between January 1998 and December 2005 and were registered in the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation database were analyzed. Median age was 48 years (range, 23 to 68 years), 34 patients had received > or = two lines of chemotherapy before alloSCT, and 11 patients had experienced treatment failure with a prior autologous stem-cell transplantation. Twenty-five patients underwent a myeloablative alloSCT, and 20 underwent a reduced-intensity alloSCT. Donors were HLA-identical siblings in 26 patients. Twenty-seven patients were allografted in chemotherapy-sensitive disease, and 18 were allografted in refractory disease.
RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of NRM was 18%, 22%, and 25% at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Patients with poor performance status had a significantly higher NRM (P = .01). RR was estimated as 16% and 20% at 2 and 3 years, respectively, and was lower in patients developing chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). PFS and OS rates were 62% and 53% and 66% and 64% at 1 and 3 years, respectively, and were significantly better in chemotherapy-sensitive patients.
CONCLUSION: AlloSCT represents a valid therapeutic option for patients with AITL. Both the lower RR after transplantation as well as the decreased RR in patients developing cGVHD after the alloSCT suggests the existence of a clinically relevant graft-versus-lymphoma effect.