Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Rituximab single or in combination with CHOP regimen for treatment of CD20-positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma has achieved good curative effects. Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) has been shown to improve the curative effects and increase survival rate of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, the curative effects of these two methods remain disputed.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficiency of rituximab in combination with AHSCT on CD 20-positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
METHODS: Six patients with CD 20-positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (stage IV) underwent AHSCT and rituximab administration. 375 mg/m² rituximab was intravenously administered 2-4 times prior to AHSCT, twice prior to and after peripheral blood stem cells mobilization and preprocessing, respectively, as well as once every 3 months after AHSCT.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The mean number of mononuclear cells and CD 34-positive cells was 5.13×10^-8/kg and 4.75×10^-6/kg, respectively. Following AHSCT, all 6 patients presented normal hematopoietic functions, neutrophils exceeded 0.5×10^-9/L at 9-15 days and blood platelet counts exceeded 20×10^-9/L at 12-19 days. Hemorrhagic cystitis, interstitial pneumonia, cytomegalovirus infection, or hepatic venous obstruction was not observed during the whole process of AHSCT in each patient. At 6-32 months, patients completely recovered. These results indicate that rituximab in combination with AHSCT is a good method for treatment of CD20-positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma and rituximab maintenance therapy could prevent disease recurrence.