OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility and efficacy of rituximab combined with high-dose chemotherapy supported by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

METHODSTwenty-eight patients with aggressive B-cell NHL (22 newly diagnosed, 6 relapsed) were enrolled in this study. The high-dose chemotherapy included CHOP regimen (CTX + ADM + VCR + PDN) for the newly diagnosed patients and DICE (DEX + IFO + DDP + VP-16) or EPOCH (VP-16 + PDN + VCR + CTX + ADM) for the relapsed patients. Each patient received infusion of rituximab at a dose of 375 mg/m(2) for four times, on D1 before and on D7 of peripheral blood stem cell mobilization, and on D1 before and D8 after stem cell reinfusion.

RESULTSComplete remission was achieved in all patients after high dose chemotherapy and ASCT. At a median follow-up of 37 months, the estimated overall 4-year survival and progression-free survival rate for all patients were 75.0% and 70.3%, respectively, while both were 72.7% for the previously untreated patients. The therapy was generally well tolerated with few side-effects attributable to rituximab.

CONCLUSIONThese results suggest that adding rituximab to high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation is feasible and may be beneficial for patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.