Transplantation After Complete Response In Patients With T-cell Lymphoma

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) encompasses a broad range of post-thymic (i.e., mature) sub-entities as defined by the 2017 WHO classification. The most common entities are angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and other Tfh-phenotype PTCL or PTCL not otherwise specified (NOS), each representing approximately 20 to 25% of mature T- and NK/T-cell lymphomas. Compared to their B-cell counterparts, most PTCL confer dismal prognosis. In fact, except for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL), 10-year overall survival for patients with PTCL barely exceeds 30%. Given the infrequency and the heterogeneity of these malignancies, no real consensus on first-line treatment has been established for most PTCL. The place of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) as a consolidation procedure for patients with PTCL achieving a complete metabolic response after induction is still highly debated. ESMO recommendations and recent guidelines from a committee of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation currently propose ASCT as first-line therapy for transplant-eligible patients for all patients reaching at least a partial response (PR) after induction. NCCN guidelines (version 2.2017) recommend ASCT or observation in case of metabolic CR but salvage regimen in case of residual disease after induction.