A Clinical Study Of Rituximab Combined With Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation In Treatment Of B-cell Non-hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of rituximab combinedwith autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in treatment ofaggressive or refractory and relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.Methods: Forty-four patients with aggressive or refractory andrelapsed B-NHL and treated with autologous hematopoietic stem celltransplantation in our department from Jan.2007to Oct.2013wereadmitted. All the subjects were divided into2groups according to theirown choice:22patients received rituximab treatment (treatment group) and22patients were treated without rituximab treatment (control group). Forpatients in treatment group, rituximab was used with chemotherapy beforeautologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for （2.9+1.1）times.After transplantation, IL-2was used in both groups as maintenancetreatment. And rituximab was used in the treatment group if the budgetallows.Results: The mononuclear cell count in treatment and control groupwas （13.01+4.22）×108/kg and （11.63+2.95）×108/kg （P =0.214）.Hematopoietic reconstruction was successfully achieved in theboth groups. No significant difference was found between two groups onthe recovery time of neutrophilic granulocytes and platelets. All patientsachieved complete remission. At a median follow-up of20months, thedisease relapsed in two patients in treatment group and five in controlgroup. The2-year overall survival rate in treatment group and controlgroup were95%and75.1%（P=0.179）.2-year progression-free survivalrates were82.4%and74.5%（P=0.393）.Conclusion: Rituximab combined with autologous hematopoieticstem cell transplantation in treatment of aggressive or refractory andrelapsed B-cell lymphoma is safe and feasible, however whether patientscan benefit from long-term studies still need further research.