Beac and BEAM High-Dose Chemotherapy in Patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma Undergoing Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Are Efficacious, with Comparable Toxicity

Introduction: Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is currently considered the standard first-line consolidation therapy for younger patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In general, there are limited data regarding a preferred high-dose therapy (HDT) regimen preceding ASCT to be used in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Although BEAM and BEAC regimens (including BCNU, etoposide, cytosar in both regimens and melphalan or cytoxan, respectively) have been commonly employed as conditioning HDT in patients with aggressive or recurrent NHL, there have been few reports comparing these two regimens. A retrospective analysis found the superiority of BEAM over BEAC in terms of overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS). Regimen-related toxicities were similar, except that BEAM was associated with more frequent lower gastrointestinal mucositis. Other studies reported that these two regimens had equivalent efficacy and outcome, as measured by EFS and OS. Further studies are required to define the optimal regimen for each specific NHL subtype. The current study aimed to compare the efficacy and toxicity of BEAC versus BEAM as a consolidation HDT in young patients with MCL undergoing ASCT.