Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for the treatment of refractory follicular lymphoma

A 38-year-old male with follicular lymphoma at clinical stage IV failed to achieve complete remission (CR), and developed leukemic change. After the patient was further treated with intensive chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, lymphoma cells in the peripheral blood and bone marrow disappeared, but the bulky mass persisted. Then, the patient received allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT) from his human lymphocyte antigen (HLA)-identical brother following high-dose cyclophosphamide and 12Gy total body irradiation, and the patient achieved CR with the disappearance of Bcl-2 rearrangement. The patient is now alive in continuous CR for more than 19 months after allo-PBSCT.(Internal Medicine 37: 1050-1054, 1998)