High-Dose Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation as Consolidation Therapy During First Complete Remission in Adult Patients With Poor-Risk Aggressive Lymphoma: A Pilot Study

Twenty consecutive patients with poor-risk aggressive lym-phoma who at presentation either had elevated serum lactic dehydrogenase level (LDH) and any one of the other poor-prognostic features: bulky mass 210 cm, advanced stage 111 or IV, and 2 2 extranodal sites, or normal LDH level and all other three features, underwent high-dose chemo / radiother-apy followed by unmanipulated autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) during their first complete remission. Eighteen had B-cell lymphoma and 2 had T-cell lymphoma. Eleven patients had high-grade (7 immunoblastic, 3 small noncleaved, non-Burkitt’s, and 1 Burkitt’s) and 9 had diffuse large cell lymphoma. All patients had achieved a complete remission following conventional chemotherapy. Four pa-tients had also received involved field radiotherapy to areas HE PROGNOSIS of patients with aggressive lym- T phoma has improved significantly with the introduc