Long-term follow-up of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma following myeloablative therapy and autologous transplantation of CD34+-selected peripheral blood progenitor cells.

Graft engineering by CD34(+) selection of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) has been used in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with the aim to reduce relapse related to tumor cells within the graft. From September 1995 to January 2000, 39 patients with newly diagnosed (n = 31) or relapsed (n = 8) NHL were treated in our institution with myeloablative therapy followed by CD34(+) selected autologous PBPC transplantation. Thirty-one patients were diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, and eight patients with mantle-cell lymphoma.