Treatment with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) for malignant lymphoma arising in the head and neck region

Abstract

Peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) is a new therapeutic technique in which harvested peripheral hematopoietic progenitor cells are used to promote hematopoiesis after marrow ablative chemoradiotherapy.
We report the clinical efficacy of chemotherapy followed by PBSCT in 4 patients with malignant lymphoma in the head and neck region.
The results were as follows: 1. A median of 2.14×10⁸ mononuclear cells/kg was collected by peripheral blood stem cell harvest (PBSCH). These cells contained a median of 1.08×10⁵ granulocyte-macrophage colony forming units (CFU-GM)/kg and 1.31×10⁶ CD₃₄ positive cells/kg. 2. The dose of chemotherapy could be increased by 1.5 to 1.8 times higher than the initial dose. 3. Clinically, all 4 patients had a complete remission (CR). 4. These results suggest that by promoting hematopoiesis, PBSCT can facilitate salvage chemotherapy with an increased dose in patients with malignant lymphoma in the head and neck region.