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Extra-nodal NK/T lymphoma (ENKTL) is rare and more frequently encountered in East Asia. The role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDT-ASCT) for ENKTL is unclear. Twenty-eight evaluable patients who had undergone HDT-ASCT in Europe from 2000–2009 were studied. The median age was 47 years and patients had received a median of two lines of prior therapy. Some 57% of patients were not in complete remission or beyond first complete remission at HDT-ASCT. The 1-year non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 11%; 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 41% and 52%, respectively. Notably, the 2-year PFS and OS for those with stage III/IV disease were 33% and 40%, respectively, with no relapses beyond 1-year post-HDT-ASCT. This is the largest analysis of HDT-ASCT for patients with ENKTL reported from the Western hemisphere. Survival is comparable to East Asian cohorts and outcomes are encouraging for patients with advanced disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research which was conducted to investigate whether template-switching anchored polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reliably amplifies functional lambda light chain transcripts of malignant lymphoma. Researchers used an alternative approach to current strategies for analysis of immunoglobulin transcripts that did not rely on the use of multiplex PCR to amplify the rearranged variable regions of antigen receptor loci. They found that their strategy was able to amplify the light chain transcripts of malignant lymphoma.