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A S Freedman

Publications and source records attributed to A S Freedman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

TGFbeta-mediated activation of Smad1 in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and effect on cell proliferation.

We have previously reported an overexpression of Smad1 in follicular lymphoma (FL) cells, which are characterized by the t(14;18) bcl2/IgH translocation. Smad1 is commonly involved in bone morphogenetic protein but not in tumor-transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) signaling pathways. This study focuses on Smad1 signaling pathway in non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells including follicular or large-cell lymphoma cells. Our results support the notion that phosphorylation of Smad1 is mediated by TGFbeta present in the microenvironment and occurs in FL in vivo. Using an in vitro coculture system mimicking interactions between stroma cells and FL cells, we found that both the cell partners release TGFbeta at a sufficient concentration to activate Smad pathways in the malignant cells. This Smad1 activation involves TGFbetaRII but not ALK-1 receptors, and does not compete with the Smad2 pathway. Moreover, proliferation assays performed on lymphoma cells expressing wild-type or mutated Smad1, or in which endogenous Smad1 level was decreased by gene silencing, strongly supported that overexpression and activation of Smad1 modifies the biological response of lymphoma B cells to TGFbeta family members. This work opens new insights into aberrant Smad pathways and their pathophysiological role in FL and in other non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

Activin Receptors, Type I↗

Ex vivo B cell depletion using the Eligix B Cell SC system and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in patients with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

One limitation of ASCT is the potential reinfusion of tumor cells contaminating PBSC. The Eligix B cell SC system consists of high-density microparticles coated with anti-B cell antibodies. To determine if this system eliminates B cells and lymphoma cells from PBSC, immunocytochemistry and PCR of the bcl-2/IgH rearrangement were performed, and correlated with patient outcome after ASCT. Eligible patients (n=29) had relapsed or transformed follicular NHL with bone marrow involvement <20%, and all lymph nodes <5 cm. PBSCs were mobilized with cyclophosphamide/G-CSF (n=21), and patients were conditioned with cyclophosphamide, carmustine and etoposide. Using immunocytochemistry on PBSC, the median number of CD20+ cells pre-purge was 310/10(6) (range 0-16692) and post-purge was 0.75/10(6); the median log B cell depletion was 2.7 (range 1.4-3.9). B cell depletion correlated with PFS after ASCT (P=0.06). Of 17 available samples for PCR, only four had a detectable t(14;18) breakpoint. After purging, all four remained PCR+; two had a 1-3 log depletion of lymphoma cells. At median follow-up of 18 months, 10 patients, including five infused with PCR-negative PBSC, have had disease progression. The paucity of PCR-informative patients, possibly related to in vivo rituximab therapy, limited the utility of minimal residual disease as a surrogate marker of clinical outcome.

Adult↗

CD6+ donor marrow T-cell depletion as the sole form of graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplant from unrelated donors.

PURPOSE: The role of donor marrow T-cell depletion (TCD) in preventing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after transplantation of unrelated allogeneic marrow remains undefined. Because different TCD methodologies differ in the degree and specificity with which T cells are removed, it is likely that transplant outcomes would depend on which technique is used. Herein, we report results in the first 48 recipients of unrelated marrow using CD6+ TCD as the sole form of GVHD prophylaxis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Median age of patients was 46 years (20 to 58 years). Donors were matched at A/B HLA loci. Ablation consisted of cyclophosphamide and fractionated total-body irradiation (TBI; 14 Gy). To facilitate engraftment, patients also received 7.5 Gy (22 patients) [corrected] or 4.5 Gy (26 patients) [corrected] of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) before admission. No additional immune suppressive prophylaxis was administered. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was administered daily from day +1 to engraftment. RESULTS: All 48 patients demonstrated neutrophil engraftment. An absolute neutrophil count of 500 x 10(6)/L was achieved at a median of 12 days (range, 9 to 23 days). There were no cases of late graft failure. The number of CD34+ cells infused/kg was associated with speed of platelet and neutrophil recovery. The dose of TLI did not influence engraftment. Grades 2-4 acute GVHD occurred in 42% of patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28 to 0.57). Mortality at day 100 was 19%. There have been only five relapses. Estimated 2-year survival was 44% (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.59) for the entire group, 58% for patients less than 50 years of age. In multivariable analysis, age less than 50 years (P =.002), cytomegalovirus seronegative status (P =.04), and early disease status at bone marrow transplant (P =.05) were associated with superior survival. CONCLUSION: CD6+ TCD does not impede engraftment of unrelated bone marrow after low-dose TLI, cyclophosphamide, and TBI. CD6+ TCD as the sole form of GVHD prophylaxis results in an incidence of GVHD that compares favorably with many adult studies of unrelated transplantation using unmanipulated marrow and immune-suppressive medications, especially in light of the median age of our patients (46 years). Although event-free survival in patients less than 50 years of age is very encouraging, older patients experience frequent transplantation-related complications despite TCD.

Adult↗

The impact of external beam radiation therapy prior to autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

External beam radiation therapy (XRT) is frequently used to treat refractory disease sites or consolidate remission in patients with relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) prior to autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT). We report the long-term outcome and toxicities associated with this therapy. We uniformly treated 552 patients with NHL with total body irradiation, high-dose chemotherapy, and anti-B-cell monoclonal antibody-purged ABMT. Of these patients, 152 received XRT to the mediastinum, abdomen, or pelvis (n = 102) or other sites (n = 50) prior to ABMT. In this nonrandomized series, there was no difference in progression-free survival between patients treated with XRT and those not treated with XRT. For patients with indolent histology, there was no difference in overall survival between patients treated with XRT and those not treated with XRT. For patients with aggressive histology, the median overall survival time was 64 months in the XRT patients and 79 months in the patients not treated with XRT (P= .09). The risk of acute transplantation-related deaths was not influenced by prior XRT (P = .68). Of patients who received XRT, 12.5% developed secondary myelodysplasia compared with 5.8% of patients not receiving XRT (P = .01). Patients receiving XRT to the mediastinum or axilla had a significantly higher risk of late respiratory death (P = .002). In conclusion, XRT allows refractory patients to become eligible for transplantation and experience a disease-free survival interval equivalent to that of patients who do not receive XRT. However, a higher incidence of non-relapse-associated deaths was observed in patients who received XRT. Future work should explore alternative conditioning strategies and altered timing of XRT, in an attempt to limit these late toxicities.

Adult↗

MCP-1 modulates chemotaxis by follicular lymphoma cells.

The localization and establishment of follicular lymphoma (FL) cells in distinct anatomic sites probably involves chemokine and adhesion receptors on the neoplastic cells and appropriate chemokines and adhesion receptor ligands in the microenvironment. Several chemokines play an important role in normal B-cell trafficking and differentiation. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a C-C chemokine that induces chemotaxis of a variety of lymphoid cells through its receptor CCR2. CCR2 is also expressed on B cells, and MCP-1 induces chemotaxis of normal B cells. In this report, we investigated expression and function of CCR2 on FL cells. We found FL cells as well as the t(14; 18)+ B-cell lymphoma line H2 expressed CCR2. MCP-1 potentiated SDF-1-induced chemotaxis of FL cells and H2 cells, but MCP-1 alone did not induce chemotaxis. The specificity of the effects of MCP-1 and SDF-1 was demonstrated by antibody blocking studies. Because FL cells are generally associated with follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), FDCs may be an important source of chemokines. We found that cultured FDCs produced MCP-1, and this production was enhanced by tumour necrosis factor. These data implicate MCP-1 in the migration and localization of FL cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Functional effects of TNF and lymphotoxin alpha1beta2 on FDC-like cells.

Recent studies suggest that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family members such as TNFalpha and lymphotoxin alphabeta (LTalpha1beta2) are important in the development of follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) and maintenance of FDC function. In this study we used FDC-like cells (FDC-LC) cultured from normal human tonsil and investigated the effects of TNF and LTalpha1beta2 on expression of adhesion molecules and the production of cytokines and chemokines. TNF and LTalpha1beta2 both increased the expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 on FDC-LC. In addition, IL-4 with LTalpha1beta2 synergistically increased the expression of VCAM-1, but not ICAM-1. Cytokine IL-6 and IL-15 mRNAs were induced following stimulation with TNF and LTalpha1beta2. These two cytokines were present in FDC-LC supernatants by ELISA and increased following TNF and LTalpha1beta2 stimulation. We also examined FDC-LC for chemokines, which affect B cells, including IL-8, SDF-1, MIP3beta/ELC, and BCA-1/BLC. SDF-1 mRNA and protein were expressed by FDC-LC, and following stimulation with TNF and LTalpha1beta2, decreases in both were observed. Therefore, TNF and LTalpha1beta2, which are produced by activated B cells, increased the expression of adhesion molecules and cytokines from FDC-LC, potentially providing key signals to support germinal center B cell survival and differentiation.

Cell Line↗

Loss of marrow reserve from dose-intensified chemotherapy results in impaired hematopoietic reconstitution after autologous transplantation: CD34(+), CD34(+)38(-), and week-6 CAFC assays predict poor engraftment.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an increasingly successful modality for treating a variety of malignant disorders in the clinic. Experimental and clinical data suggest that prior exposure to cytotoxic agents that damage primitive stem cells results in impaired hematopoiesis after autologous HSCT. To further investigate the ability to predict for impaired hematopoiesis, we measured different stem/progenitor cell populations transplanted and time to engraftment. Patients with previously untreated, advanced-stage follicular lymphoma were treated in sequential prospective protocols with 6-8 cycles of standard-dose (SD) cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP), or four cycles of a higher-dose (HD) CHOP and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, to induce remission prior to high-dose cyclophosphamide, total body irradiation, and autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT). Cryopreserved marrow samples obtained prior to ABMT were assayed for CD34(+), CD34(+)38(-), and cobblestone area-forming cell (CAFC) frequencies. Despite receiving similar numbers of nucleated cells at ABMT, HD-CHOP patients took significantly longer to attain platelet engraftment than the SD-CHOP patients. Marrow from the HD-CHOP patients contained significantly lower CD34(+), CD34(+)38(-), and week 6-8 CAFC frequencies than marrow from SD-CHOP-treated patients. Time to platelet engraftment was plotted against progenitor/stem cell numbers transplanted for each patient and threshold values were developed for all three stem/progenitor cell populations. These values were 0.5 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells/kg, 0.14 x 10(6) CD34(+)38(-) cells/kg, and 9500 week-6 CAFC/kg transplanted. Approximately 50% of patients received marrow progenitor/stem cell numbers above the threshold values and all engrafted without delay. However, transplantation of stem/progenitor cell numbers below threshold values did not uniformly predict for delayed platelet engraftment. These data provide further evidence for the association of low marrow reserve at ABMT, low numbers of stem/progenitor cells transplanted, and delayed hematopoietic recovery. However, there remains a group of patients who have rapid platelet engraftment after ABMT despite low numbers of progenitor/stem cells transplanted. These data suggest the presence of a crucial stem cell population not represented by the stem/progenitor cell populations studied in these experiments.

ADP-ribosyl Cyclase↗

Long-term follow-up of autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma.

We report the results of high-dose chemoradiotherapy and anti-B-cell monoclonal antibody-purged autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) in patients with relapsed indolent follicular lymphoma. Between March 1985 and May 1995, 153 patients underwent ABMT using a uniform ablative regimen with cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation and bone marrow (BM) purging. All patients received multiple chemotherapy regimens before ABMT. At BM harvest, only 30% of patients were in complete remission, and overt BM infiltration was present in 47%. The disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) are estimated to be 42% and 66% at 8 years, respectively. Patients whose BM was negative by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for bcl2/IgH rearrangement after purging experienced longer freedom from recurrence than those whose BM remained PCR positive (P <.0001). Continued PCR negativity in follow-up BM samples was also strongly predictive of continued complete remission (CR). The 12-year survival from diagnosis for these 153 patients is 69%. Considering that the median survival from diagnosis and first recurrence of patients with advanced follicular lymphoma are 8 and 5 years, respectively, our results provide evidence that myeloablative therapy and ABMT may prolong overall survival.

Adult↗

High-dose therapy and stem cell transplantation in follicular lymphoma.

Indolent follicular lymphomas are diseases which are generally incurable with conventional therapy. Although patients can survive for prolonged periods, the median duration of first remissions is about 2.5 years, and subsequent remissions progressively shorten with time. High-dose therapy with hematopoietic stem cell support leads to prolonged disease-free and overall survival in a subset of patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mounting evidence suggests similar findings for selected patients with indolent follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It is still unclear as to when this approach should be used; however, inferior results have been seen in heavily pretreated patients. In contrast, encouraging results are being reported in patients undergoing such treatment early in the course of their disease. Despite these data, many patients continue to relapse, and investigations are now focused on eradication of minimal residual disease, allogeneic transplantation, novel ablative regimens, and improvements in stem cell purging.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

Autologous bone marrow transplantation after histologic transformation of indolent B cell malignancies.

The role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after transformation is controversial. We have retrospectively analyzed patients with chemosensitive disease and a history of follicular lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma who underwent high-dose chemoradiotherapy and bone marrow transplantation (BMT) with anti-B cell monoclonal antibody-purged autologous marrow for DLBCL. Between December 1982 and August 1997, 27 patients underwent autologous BMT using a uniform ablative regimen with cyclophosphamide, total-body irradiation, and bone marrow purging. All patients received multiple chemotherapy regimens before autologous BMT. At bone marrow (BM) harvest, only 44% of patients were in complete remission, and overt BM infiltration was present in 37%. After cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation, no treatment-related deaths were seen. Eleven of the 27 patients relapsed, and four patients developed myelodysplasia/acute myelogenous leukemia. In seven patients in whom pathologic studies were available after relapse, the histology remained DLBCL. Twelve patients remained alive and in complete remission with a median follow-up of 36 months (range 10-132). The disease-free survival and overall survival are estimated to be 46% (90% confidence interval 28-64) and 58% (40-76) at 5 years, respectively. Patients whose disease underwent histologic transformation within 18 months of their initial diagnosis of indolent lymphoma had significantly better overall survival. Selected patients with histologic transformation, particularly those whose transformation occurs early in the course of their disease and who remain chemosensitive, may experience prolonged survival after autoBMT.

Adult↗

Outcome in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome after autologous bone marrow transplantation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

PURPOSE: The absolute risk of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) after autologous bone marrow transplant (ABMT) for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) exceeds 5% in several reported series. We report the outcome of a large cohort of patients who developed MDS after ABMT for NHL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between December 1982 and December 1997, 552 patients underwent ABMT for NHL, with a uniform ablative regimen of cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation followed by reinfusion of obtained marrow purged with monoclonal antibodies. MDS was strictly defined, using the French-American-British classification system, as requiring bone marrow dysplasia in at least two cell lines, with associated unexplained persistent cytopenias. RESULTS: Forty-one patients developed MDS at a median of 47 months after ABMT. The incidence of MDS was 7.4%, and actuarial incidence at 10 years is 19.8%, without evidence of a plateau. Patients who developed MDS received significantly fewer numbers of cells reinfused per kilogram at ABMT (P =.0003). Karyotypes were performed on bone marrow samples of 33 patients, and 29 patients had either del(7) or complex abnormalities. The median survival from diagnosis of MDS was 9.4 months. The International Prognostic Scoring System for MDS failed to predict outcome in these patients. Thirteen patients underwent allogeneic BMT as treatment for MDS, and all have died of BMT-related complications (11 patients) or relapse (two patients), with a median survival of only 1.8 months. CONCLUSION: Long-term follow-up demonstrates a high incidence of MDS after ABMT for NHL. The prognosis for these patients is uniformly poor, and novel treatment strategies are needed for this fatal disorder.

Adult↗

Bone marrow transplantation for low-grade lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Treatment of low-grade lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a challenge for hematologists. The long physical history and the indolent nature of these diseases do not support the choice of aggressive treatment. However, regardless of the initial sensitivity of these diseases to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, relapse is inevitable and, therefore, treatment choice especially for younger patients is a serious decision. Intensive therapy followed by transplantation with purged autologous bone marrow or peripheral blood progenitor cells has been shown to be efficient in low-grade lymphomas. However, long-term follow-up study has shown a continuous pattern of relapses, many of which are due to the reinfusion of malignant cells, as well as a risk for the development of myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is an attractive, promising alternative approach that eliminates many of these risks. Treatment of CLL with classical chemotherapeutic agents, as well as biological response modifiers has not provided any significant improvement in the long-term outcome and remission duration. Addition of autologous BMT (ABMT) or allogeneic BMT as a consolidation therapy is under study and might be a step toward a potential cure of this disease.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

A Phase II study of adjuvant therapy with anti-B4-blocked ricin after autologous bone marrow transplantation for patients with relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

This Phase II trial was undertaken to determine the safety, toxicity, and potential efficacy of the B-cell restricted immunotoxin anti-B4-blocked ricin (Anti-B4-bR) when administered as adjuvant therapy to patients in complete remission (CR) after autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) for B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Forty-nine patients with B-cell NHL in CR 46-202 days (median, 112 days) post-ABMT received Anti-B4-bR at a dose of 30 microg/kg lean body weight/day for 7 days by continuous i.v. infusion. Patients were eligible for up to two additional courses of therapy at 14-day intervals. A total of 83 courses of Anti-B4-bR were administered, with 31 patients receiving two or more courses of therapy. The mean serum level on day 7 of the first course was 0.77+/-0.41 nM. Reversible toxicities included hepatic transaminase elevations, thrombocytopenia, myalgias, fatigue, nausea, hypoalbuminemia, and dyspnea. Human antimouse antibody (HAMA) and/or human antiricin antibody (HARA) responses occurred in 23 patients at a median of 22 days from the initiation of Anti-B4-bR therapy (range, 11-100 days). The 4-year disease-free survival and overall survival are estimated at 56 and 72%, respectively. Twenty-six patients remain in CR after a median follow-up of 54.5 months. This study demonstrates that Anti-B4-bR can be administered safely to patients as adjuvant therapy early after ABMT for B-cell NHL. The toxicities are tolerable and reversible. Although the early estimate of disease-free survival was very encouraging in this single-armed trial, the 4-year follow-up data demonstrate continued relapse.

Adult↗

Predictive value of clonality assays in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma undergoing autologous bone marrow transplant: a single institution study.

Recent studies have documented an increased risk of therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myelogenous leukemia (t-MDS/AML) after autologous bone marrow transplant (ABMT) for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). To develop methods to identify patients at risk for this complication, we have investigated the predictive value of clonal bone marrow (BM) hematopoiesis for the development of t-MDS/AML, as defined by an X-inactivation based clonality assay at the human androgen receptor locus (HUMARA), in a group of patients undergoing ABMT for NHL from a single institution (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA). One hundred four female patients were analyzed. At the time of ABMT, the prevalence of polyclonal hematopoiesis was 77% (80/104), of skewed X-inactivation pattern (XIP) was 20% (21/104), and of clonal hematopoiesis was 3% (3/104). To determine the predictive value of clonality for the development of t-MDS/AML, a subgroup of 78 patients with at least 18 months follow-up was analyzed. As defined by the HUMARA assay, 53 of 78 patients had persistent polyclonal hematopoiesis, 15 of 78 had skewed XIP, and 10 of 78 (13.5%) either had clonal hematopoiesis at the time of ABMT or developed clonal hematopoiesis after ABMT. t-MDS/AML developed in 2 of 53 patients with polyclonal hematopoiesis and in 4 of 10 with clonal hematopoiesis. We conclude that a significant proportion of patients have clonal hematopoiesis at the time of ABMT and that clonal hematopoiesis, as detected by the HUMARA assay, is predictive of the development of t-MDS/AML (P = .004).

Adult↗

Unbalanced expression of bcl-2 family proteins in follicular lymphoma: contribution of CD40 signaling in promoting survival.

Although highly responsive, advanced stage follicular lymphoma (FL) is not curable with conventional treatment. This relative resistance is thought to be due to the t(14;18) that results in the constitutive overexpression of the death-inhibiting protein bcl-2. However, the observation that FL cells are sensitive to treatment in vivo and prone to apoptosis on in vitro culture questions whether bcl-2 alone is responsible for the pathogenesis and clinical behavior of this disease. Therefore, multiple genes are likely to be involved in both the lymphomagenesis and the clinical course of FL. We examined whether expression of other bcl-2 family genes might also be operative. Here, we show that FL cells display a different pattern of expression of bcl-2 family proteins from normal germinal center (GC) B cells that are thought to be their normal counterpart. FL cells express the death-suppressor proteins bcl-2, bcl-xL, and mcl-1; whereas GC B cells express bcl-xL and mcl-1 but also the proapoptotic proteins bax-alpha and bad. Although maintaining constitutive levels of bcl-2 and mcl-1, FL cells are not protected from apoptosis when cultured in vitro. Their propensity to undergo apoptosis is temporally associated with downregulation of bcl-xL. More importantly, activation of FL cells via CD40 not only prevents downregulation but increases the level of bcl-xL expression and results in promotion of survival. These results support the hypothesis that the overexpression of bcl-2 is not the only antiapoptotic mechanism responsible for the pathogenesis of FL. Survival of FL cells is determined by a number of death-inhibiting proteins, among which bcl-xL appears to have the most critical role. Moreover, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, although FL cells are malignant, they respond to microenvironmental signals such as CD40L that appear to contribute to their survival through the upregulation of death-inhibiting proteins.

Apoptosis↗

CD6+ T cell-depleted allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

For patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) undergoing blood or bone marrow transplantation (BMT), the use of autologous grafts has often been preferred to that of allogeneic stem cells because of a significantly lower incidence of non-relapse mortality. If complications associated with allo-BMT could be minimized without compromising efficacy, then it might become a preferred strategy for certain subsets of patients. In this report, we describe the toxicity and long-term efficacy of T cell-depleted allogeneic BMT using anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody and complement alone to reduce the risk of GVHD and its sequelae. Twenty-two patients, aged 18-60 years, with high (n = 10), intermediate (n = 9), or low (n = 3) grade NHL underwent HLA-identical allogeneic BMT from siblings. Patients had either relapsed after at least one remission or never achieved a full remission with chemotherapy. Twenty patients had a history of marrow involvement. Bone marrow was depleted of CD6+ T cells with T12 monoclonal antibody and complement as the sole form of GVHD prophylaxis. Stable hematopoietic engraftment occurred in all 22 patients. Four patients developed grade 2 and 1 patient grade 3 GVHD (23% grades 2-4 GVHD). Chronic GVHD has occurred in three patients. Treatment-related mortality was very low. Only one patient died while in remission. Thirteen patients are alive and free of disease with a median follow-up of 30 months. Estimated event-free and overall survivals are 54 and 59%, respectively. CD6 allogeneic marrow transplantation is associated with a low risk of transplant-related complications and may offer advantages for certain patients with recurrent NHL felt to be at high risk for relapse after autologous transplantation.

Adolescent↗

High-dose chemoradiotherapy and anti-B-cell monoclonal antibody-purged autologous bone marrow transplantation in mantle-cell lymphoma: no evidence for long-term remission.

PURPOSE: The role for high-dose therapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation in mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) is unknown. We retrospectively analyzed patients with chemosensitive disease who underwent high-dose chemoradiotherapy and anti-B-cell monoclonal antibody-purged autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) for MCL in first remission, as well as following relapse from conventional therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between August 1985 and April 1996, 28 patients underwent ABMT using a uniform ablative regimen with cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation (TBI) and a bone marrow-purging regimen. Re-review of original tissue demonstrated that all patients had morphologic, phenotypic, and genotypic characteristics of MCL. MCL was the original diagnosis in 21 patients, whereas seven patients had a prior diagnosis of diffuse small cleaved-cell lymphoma. RESULTS: Twenty patients received multiple regimens before ABMT, while eight underwent ABMT in first complete remission (CR)/partial remission (PR) following CHOP induction. At bone marrow harvest, only 18% of patients were in CR and overt BM infiltration was present in 57%. Following cyclophosphamide/TBI, no treatment-related deaths were seen. Nineteen of 28 patients have relapsed at a median time of 21 months (range, 3 to 70). Of eight patients transplanted in first CR/PR, five have relapsed. Nine patients are in continuous CR with a median follow-up time of 24 months (range, 10 to 135). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) are estimated to be 31% and 62% at 4 years, respectively. CONCLUSION: ABMT using cyclophosphamide/TBI conditioning may at best be effective in only a small fraction of patients with relapsed MCL. The lack of plateau with a median follow-up time of 24 months suggests cure may not be achievable. The role of this therapy in patients in first remission requires more study using better induction therapy to enhance the CR rate before ABMT.

Adult↗