Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for malignant lymphoma

Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) for patients with malignant lymphoma has been extensively performed in Japan for several years. Some of the disease states of lymphoma are considered to be a good candidate for auto-PBSCT application. Sensitive relapsers in non Hodgkin's lymphoma should be treated with a combination of salvage therapy and high dose chemo(radio)-therapy with stem cell support, and up-front PBSCT is recommended for poor risk aggressive lymphoma. The clinical results and indications for auto-PBSCT including other types of lymphoma such as lymphoblastic lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, low-grade lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease will be reviewed in this paper.