Stem cell mobilization and high dose therapy in lymphomas.

The introduction of rituximab and, more recently, new targeted drugs and its subsequent impact on the outcome of patients with lymphoma has called into question the role of high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell rescue (HDT-ASCR) in the therapeutic algorithm of these diseases. However, this strategy remains essential for the management of some types of lymphoma, both Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with some well-established indications. Thus, the role of HDT-ASCR to consolidate first-line therapy in young and fit patients with mantle cell lymphoma is well accepted, as it is indisputable the importance of this strategy to provide the best chance of cure in patients with relapsed HL or diffuse-large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In contrast, the role of HDT-ASCR in the management of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) or T-NHL is much more controversial. In what there is general agreement is in that the preferred source of stem cells is peripheral blood stem cells, with exceptional occasions in which the difficulties of obtaining peripheral blood progenitors prevents this strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]