MOLECULAR-DETECTION OF RESIDUAL LYMPHOMA-CELLS IN PERIPHERAL-BLOOD STEM-CELL HARVESTS AND FOLLOWING AUTOLOGOUS TRANSPLANTATION

Abstract

Twenty-seven patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) have undergone peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvesting for autologous transplantation (Tx). A molecular marker was found at presentation in 23/27 patients. Immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) or T cell receptor beta (TCR beta) rearrangements were detected by Southern blotting or the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 13 patients; PCR detected the bcl-2/JH fusion in 10 patients. Fifteen autologous PBSC transplants have been performed in 11 patients. In 5/11 patients, the marker was present in at least one PBSC collection (in four patients, every PBSC collection was positive). Survival data are available for nine patients (two early dea..