Comparison of survival between hodgkin and non-hodgkin lymphoma after autologous stem cell transplantation

Background: Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is a treatment modality for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients with increasingly usage worldwide. Materials and Methods: One hundred and forty-one patients (96 patients with HL and 45 patients with NHL) who underwent ASCT were followed. We used 3-year overall survival (OS) and 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) to evaluate the survival rates. Results: Comparison of 3-year OS and PFS between HL and NHL had no statistically significant difference (OS: 82% vs. 70.2%,P = 0.07 and PFS: 72.8% vs. 59.6%,P = 0.46). 3-year OS in HL with CR was, however, statistically better than NHL (91% vs. 70.4%,P = 0.007) and 3-year OS in males with HL was statistically better than males with NHL (83.2% vs. 66.7%,P = 0.047). Moreover, 3-year OS and PFS in HL with three or more chemotherapy lines before transplantation were better than NHL with this condition (3-year OS: 72.8% vs. 44%,P = 0.01 and 3-year PFS: 58.1% vs. 33.1%,P = 0.016). Conclusion: Our purpose was to compare the survival rates in two groups of NHL and HL patients after ASCT. Patients with HL generally showed better OS and PFS after ASCT in comparison to patients with NHL, but statistically significant differences were seen only in few comparisons, requiring more studies to be carried out.