Salvage therapy for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The non-Hodgkin's lymphomas represent a diverse group of lymphoproliferative disorders for which treatment must be specified according to the patient's status as well as the disease status. Although many advances have been made in the front-line treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, more than 50% of the patients will not be cured with their initial therapy. Because of these treatment failures with front-line therapy, many different salvage therapies have been tried in this patient population.

Clinical significance of immunophenotype in diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

We performed a prospective study of the clinical significance of immunophenotype in 110 patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) treated by oncologists in the Nebraska Lymphoma Study Group between October 1982 and May 1986. All patients were immunophenotyped from biopsies performed before therapy was administered. The patients were treated with a uniform protocol of radiotherapy for minimal nonbulky, stage I or II disease (seven patients) or a single, six-drug chemotherapy regimen cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, procarbazine, bleomycin, vincristine, and prednisone (CAP-BOP) in patients with more extensive disease (103 patients).

Autologous bone marrow transplantation in follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma before and after histologic transformation.

Patients with disseminated follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are only occasionally cured with standard chemotherapy regimens. Although most of these tumors are initially responsive to chemotherapy, in 40% to 70% of patients the lymphoma will eventually transform to an NHL of higher grade malignancy and a poorer prognosis. We treated 18 patients having an original diagnosis of follicular NHL with high-dose therapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation.

Salvage therapy for relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma utilizing autologous bone marrow transplantation.

Purpose: Our objective was to evaluate the impact of high-dose therapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation as salvage treatment for recurrent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a defined group of patients from the Nebraska Lymphoma Study Group.

Design: Patients treated initially by oncologists from the Nebraska Lymphoma Study Group between January 1983 and July 1987 who subsequently underwent autologous bone marrow transplantation for recurrent or refractory disease were evaluated for treatment outcome.

Patients: Twenty-five patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma underwent high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell infusion in the time period reviewed.

High-dose therapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for patients with lymphoma.

Forty patients with refractory Hodgkin's disease (24 patients) or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (16 patients) who were considered for high-dose therapy but not for autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) due to BM metastases, previous pelvic irradiation, a history of marrow involvement by tumor or hypocellular marrow in conventional harvest sites received high-dose therapy and autologous peripheral blood (PB) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Disappearance of circulating neutrophils and development of RBC and platelet transfusion-dependence was followed, in the evaluable patients, by reappearance of 0.5 x 10(9)/L circulating granulocytes and sufficient platelets to obviate the need for platelet transfusions at a median of 25 days after transplantation.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in patients with lymphoma relapsing after autologous marrow transplantation.

Two patients who underwent autologous bone marrow transplantation for recurrent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma relapsed at 46 and 28 days after the transplant. Both patients had an HLA-identical sibling and were treated with high-dose chemotherapy and allogeneic marrow transplantation. One patient is now 24 months after the allogeneic transplant without evidence of disease.

The importance of age in survival of patients treated with chemotherapy for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is a malignancy that occurs frequently in the elderly with a median age greater than 60 years. However, most chemotherapy trials have included predominantly patients less than 60 years of age. We treated 157 patients with diffuse aggressive NHL between September 1982 and May 1986 with cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin (doxorubicin; Adria Laboratories, Columbus, OH), procarbazine, bleomycin, vincristine, and prednisone (CAP/BOP).

Fractionated total body irradiation and high dose cyclophosphamide: a preparative regimen for bone marrow transplantation for patients with hematologic malignancies in first complete remission.

We treated 73 patients with hematologic malignancies in first complete remission (acute lymphoblastic leukemia = 23 patients; acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia = 25 patients; chronic myelogenous leukemia in first chronic phase = 20 patients, and high grade lymphoma = five patients) with a uniform preparative regimen consisting of fractionated total body irradiation (1,320 cGy) and high dose cyclophosphamide (100 mg/kg), followed by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. By radiation dosimetry we demonstrated that the calculated doses were delivered accurately and reproducibly. Actuarial survival rates (+/- SEM) in complete remission were as follows: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia = 74 +/- 9%; acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia = 50 +/- 11%; and chronic myelogenous leukemia = 55 +/- 11%.

Correlation of secondary cytogenetic abnormalities with histologic appearance in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas bearing t(14;18)(q32;q21).

Successful cytogenetic studies were performed on 69 biopsies from 64 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma bearing a t(14;18)(q32;q21) translocation. This translocation appears to be a primary abnormality associated with the development of certain B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. We correlated the occurrence of secondary abnormalities, in addition to the t(14;18)(q32;q21), with histologic subtype to test the hypothesis that secondary abnormalities correlate with more aggressive histologic appearance.

Bone marrow transplantation for myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative syndromes.

Twenty patients (age range, 4 to 48 years; median age, 36 years) with de novo or drug-induced myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative disorders were treated with myeloablative immunosuppressive therapy followed by bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Four preparative regimens were used; three regimens consisted of combined total body irradiation (TBI) and chemotherapy and one of combination chemotherapy only. One patient received marrow from his identical twin brother, whereas the other 19 patients were grafted with marrow from histocompatible siblings.

Salvage therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Marrow transplantation as salvage therapy in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma seems to be superior to chemotherapy administered in conventional doses, although trials are ongoing. Transplantation results are better when refractory and relapsed patients respond to conventional salvage therapy (sensitive relapse) and residual disease is reduced to a minimum. The authors summarize clinical findings to date, including the latest work with interferon and monoclonal antibodies.

Acute renal failure associated with autologous bone marrow transplantation.

A review of 33 consecutive autologous bone marrow transplant (BMT) cases revealed three cases of acute renal failure which developed immediately following reinfusion of cryopreserved bone marrow, and which could not be explained on the basis of hypotension or nephrotoxic drugs. Gross hemoglobinuria was noted in all 33 autologous BMT patients, and may have contributed to the acute renal failure seen in the three patients. Histologic examination of the kidneys of one patient who died 3 days after BMT showed markedly dilated renal tubules filled with hemoglobin casts.

Bone marrow transplantation for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

We report the treatment outcome of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in ten patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Six patients are alive and well for 6 to 30 months (median 19 months) after transplantation. Four patients died with transplant related complications.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for high risk non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during first complete remission.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation from histocompatible sibling donors was performed in six patients with extranodal involvement of high grade lymphoma during first complete remission. Five patients had lymphoblastic lymphoma and one had diffuse undifferentiated lymphoma. The cytoreductive/immunosuppressive regimen consisted of total body irradiation and high dose cyclophosphamide.

High dose therapy and autologous marrow transplantation as salvage treatment for patients with diffuse large cell lymphoma.

Twenty-nine patients with diffuse large cell lymphoma who failed traditional chemotherapy were treated with high dose chemotherapy with or without total body irradiation followed by infusion of cryopreserved autologous marrow. Complete response was achieved in 11/29 patients (38%), partial response in 13/29 patients (45%) and 5/29 patients (17%) had no response. Six complete responders remain well and free of disease for 5+, 6+, 9+, 10+, 18+ and 25+ months, 3 relapsed at 2, 3 and 8 months after marrow infusion, and 2 died from infectious complications.

Trial of high-dose cytarabine, cyclophosphamide, total-body irradiation, and autologous marrow transplantation for refractory lymphoma.

Twenty-one patients with advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease who had failed to be cured with standard therapy were the subjects of this clinical trial. The patients received cytarabine (3 g/m2 at 12-hour intervals for six or eight doses), cyclophosphamide (90 mg/kg once), and total-body irradiation (one 900-cGy fraction or five 250-cGy fractions). Bone marrow was aspirated and cryopreserved before treatment and reinfused after the completion of radiotherapy.