A Retrospective Study to Evaluate the Survival Rates in R-CHOP Chemotherapy Followed by Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

Prognosis in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is highly associated with the International Prognostic Index (IPI) score, which was proposed to assign prognosis to patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing treatment with doxorubicin-containing chemotherapy. The addition of rituximab to CHOP or CHOP-like regimens has resulted in significant improvements in the overall survival (OS) rate of CD20 positive DLBCL. In addition, the original IPI scoring system has been validated even in patients receiving rituximab-based chemotherapy. However, OS and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with high-intermediate or high IPI DLBCL were not satisfactory, and the upfront autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) was reported to improve the survival rates in these patients subset. Therefore, we retrospectively evaluated the survival rates in patients with DLBCL with CD20+, who were treated with R-CHOP followed by ASCT.We analyzed 40 DLBCL patients who underwent an ASCT, reported to the Korean Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry between 2005 and 2011 by 12 centers. Patients characteristics at diagnosis: 60% male, 5% stage II with bulky disease, 95% stage III or IV, 42.5% bone marrow involvement, 65% high-intermediate or high risk by IPI score. Patients characteristics at ASCT: median age 47 years (range, 23?66) and 82.5% of patients received ≥6 cycles of R-CHOP. Response to R-CHOP: 62.5% CR and 37.5% PR. 17.5% of patients received involved field radiotherapy prior to ASCT for bulky disease or residual lymphoma. Disease status at ASCT: 72.5% CR and 27.5% PR. Median time from diagnosis to ASCT was 7.85 months (range, 4.4?16.1).Median follow-up period from diagnosis was 36.2 months (range, 6.3?84.8). 2-year estimates of PFS, OS and relapse from diagnosis were 73.8%, 86.4% and 24.3%, respectively. 5-year estimates of PFS, OS and relapse were 70.8%, 68.3% and 27.4%, respectively. 3-year estimates of PFS and OS according to IPI score were not significantly different among 4 risk groups (P=0.890 and P=0.855, respectively).The upfront ASCT following R-CHOP induction therapy may improve survival for patients with advanced high risk DLBCL. Prospective evaluation of the treatment outcome of R-CHOP followed by ASCT is needed for high risk DLBCL on a large scale