Successful autologous stem cell transplantation for relapsed lymphoma with peripheral blood stem cells cryopreserved for ten years

High dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) has been shown to be effective therapy for patients with relapsed lymphoma responsive to standard-dose salvage chemotherapy. Here we report a patient in second complete remission (CR) from relapsed follicular lymphoma (grade 3) who was successfully treated with peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) that had been harvested in first CR 10 years before. One of six frozen bags was thawed and submitted for progenitor cell assays. Because the number of progenitors was considered to be sufficient for engraftment, autologous SCT was performed without further stem cell harvest. At infusion, the viability of all nucleated cells (ANC) of the 5 remaining bags was 61.4%. She was expected to receive 2.87