Long-Term Survival of Patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma after Total Body Irradiation, High-Dose Chemotherapy and Stem Cell Transplantation: A Monocenter Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a very rare subtype of non-Hodgkin‘s lymphoma, predominantly affecting men, where most patients at initial presentation show an advanced spread of the disease with poor prognosis. We analyzed the long-term outcome of 22 patients treated with total body irradiation (TBI)-based conditioning prior to stem cell transplantation (SCT) at the University Hospital of Muenster, Germany. The present results of multimodal treatment support the published reports that TBI-based high-dose therapy followed by SCT is highly effective in this unfavorable disease. Both recently approved agents and traditional SCT open up possibilities of a personalized treatment approach for MCL with the aim of a cure. ABSTRACT: Introduction: In patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), long-term remissions can be achieved by stem cell transplantation (SCT). Different conditioning treatment protocols exist with or without total body irradiation (TBI). There are few data published on the role of TBI before autologous stem cell transplantation (autoSCT) or allogenic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT). We report on the long-term survival data of patients treated by TBI prior to autologous or allogenic SCT at our center. Patients: In a retrospective analysis, the data of patients treated at the University Hospital of Muenster from May 2004 to February 2015 were collected and evaluated. For the analysis, all data of patients who were histopathologically diagnosed with MCL and underwent TBI prior to stem cell transplantation (SCT) were evaluated. Results: A total of 22 patients (19 men and 3 women) were treated with a TBI-based conditioning prior to SCT. The median age at initial diagnosis was 57.5 years (38–65 years). Seventeen patients had Ann Arbor stage IV, two patients had Ann Arbor stage III, and three patients Ann Arbor stage II disease. AutoSCT was performed in 19 patients and alloSCT was performed in 3 patients. In 18 patients, autoSCT was applied as part of first-line therapy, and in one patient after relapse. Two patients received alloSCT after relapse of MCL, and one patient received alloSCT during first-line therapy after an inadequate treatment response. TBI was performed in 12 patients with 10 Gy and in 6 patients with 12 Gy, these patients subsequently received autoSCT. In the group of four patients who received TBI with four Gy, four patients subsequently received alloSCT and one patient received autoSCT. Median overall survival after autoSCT and previous TBI was 11.4 years (142 months). In total, 11 out of 19 patients treated with autoSCT lived longer than 6.8 years (82–202 months). After alloSCT and previous TBI, the median overall survival was 3.25 years (14–59 months). Conclusions: A large proportion of patients with advanced MCL survived remarkably longer than 11.4 years after high-dose chemotherapy, TBI, and SCT. The present results of multimodal treatment support the published reports that TBI-based high-dose therapy followed by autoSCT is highly effective in this prognostically unfavorable disease situation.