Comparison of survival in patients with T cell lymphoma after autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation as a frontline strategy or in relapsed disease.

We studied the roles of autologous (A) and allogeneic (allo) stem cell transplantation (SCT) in the treatment of 134 patients with T cell lymphoma (TCL) at our center. For frontline SCT, 58 patients were studied. The 4-year overall survival (OS) rates for ASCT (n = 47; median age, 49 years) and alloSCT (n = 11; median age, 55 years) groups were 76% and 54%, respectively (P > .05). The 4-year OS rates for first complete remission (CR1) patients were 84% and 83%, respectively. For SCT for relapsed disease, 76 patients were studied (41 with ASCT and 35 with alloSCT). The 4-year OS rates were 50% and 36% for ASCT and alloSCT patients with chemosensitive disease, respectively (P > .05). Those who were in CR2 and CR3 had 4-year OS rates of 59% and 53%, respectively. Similar results were also observed in patients with refractory disease (29% and 35%, respectively). These data suggest that a pre-SCT CR is associated with improved outcomes in TCL patients after SCT. Considering the 84% 4-year OS rates in CR1 patients and the unpredictable responses in patients with relapsed disease, we favor the use of ASCT as consolidation therapy after CR1. AlloSCT did not result in a superior outcome compared with ASCT.