Stem cell transplantation for T-cell lymphomas in Taiwan

T-cell lymphomas are generally aggressive malignancies with poor prognosis. There are no standard treatment guidelines for T-cell lymphomas, and the timing of stem cell transplantation (SCT) is not well known. In this study, we investigated the outcomes of Taiwanese patients with T-cell lymphomas after SCT. We retrospectively analyzed 131 patients with T-cell lymphomas receiving SCT (autologous: 90, allogeneic: 41) from 2009 to 2014. More autologous SCT recipients were ALCL or in complete remission, and more allogeneic recipients had advanced disease. 56 patients who were sensitive to chemotherapy underwent SCT as upfront setting. The 2-year PFS and OS rates were 67.0 and 64.5%, respectively. Regarding disease status before transplantation, patients with CR1 had the best outcomes. Among different subtypes, patients with natural killer/T-cell lymphomas showed the worst outcomes, with 2-year OS rate of 23.5%. The OS rates for the other three major subtypes were as follows: 72.9% for ALCL; 75.0% for AITL; and 51.4% for PTCL-NOS. For more rare subtypes, such as ATLL and SPTCL, data from our study show that SCT can be beneficial. We concluded that upfront autologous SCT is feasible and effective for patients with low PIT, and disease status at transplant is the strong predictor of outcome.