factors associated with lymphoma recurrence following autologous stem cell transplantation

Introduction: non-responsive or relapsed lymphoma patients may benefit from salvage chemotherapy or high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (asct), an effective treatment, particularly in non-hodgkin's and hodgkin's lymphoma. this study aimed to investigate recurrence in these patients and identify associated risk factors.methods: a retrospective cohort study analyzed outcomes of lymphoma patients undergoing asct at omid hospital (2016-2020). comprehensive data on demographics, treatment, underlying disease, recurrence, and pre-transplantation laboratory parameters were collected from hospital records. follow-up from transplantation to february 2021 allowed for survival and recurrence evaluation using kaplan-meier and cox regression. the study included patients without concurrent plasma cell disorders or other hematological malignancies for a focused lymphoma treatment outcome analysis.results: forty-nine lymphoma patients underwent asct (21 hl, 42.9%; 28 nhl, 57.1%). gender distribution was similar (30 males, 61.2%; 19 females, 38.8%; p=0.774). mean age at transplantation was 38.8 ± 11.15 years (p=0.519 between groups). recurrence occurred in 14 patients (7 in each group; p=0.523), with a mean recurrence-free survival (rfs) of 25.2 months (95% ci: 21.44-28.96). hl patients had a lower mean rfs and a higher recurrence hazard ratio (hr: 1.25, 95% ci: 0.420-3.76), though not statistically significant (p=0.683). in nhl, older age significantly correlated with recurrence (p=0.030). while male gender and older age were associated with lower survival, only advanced age in nhl significantly predicted decreased survival (hr: 1.167, 95% ci: 1.102-1.197).conclusions: male hl patients showed diminished survival and an elevated hazard ratio (not statistically significant). advanced age significantly predicted reduced survival in nhl patients. pre-transplant laboratory markers did not significantly predict survival.