Background: High-dose therapy (HDT) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an important treatment option for selected patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma; however, the effectiveness of HDT for patients with bone marrow (BM) involvement of lymphoma cells is not well defined.
Patients and methods: Between February 1991 and December 2001, 57 patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma were treated with HDT and ASCT. Thirteen of 57 patients who had BM infiltration at initial diagnosis were analyzed.
Results: Median follow-up was 11.5 years. Eleven of 13 patients (85%) exhibited complete remission after HDT. The overall survival (OS) at 10 years was 49%, and the median survival time was 74.3 months. Meanwhile, the probability of OS at 10 years for 44 patients who did not have BM disease was 60%. There was no significant difference in OS (P=0.895) between patients with or without BM disease at initial diagnosis.
Conclusion: High-dose therapy treatment followed by ASCT might save some groups of patients with lymphoma regardless of BM involvement at initial diagnosis.