Survival after high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell support

High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell support has been carried out in our hospital since 1996. We have recently collected survival data on patients who have undergone this procedure. The study population comprised 111 patients, 58 of whom had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, 38 with various forms of malignant lymphoma, 11 with sarcoma and 4 with testicular cancer. Median survival from reinfusion of stem cells was 74.8 months for patients with myeloma, 47.8 months for patients with malignant lymphoma and 11.7 months for patients with sarcoma. Three-year survival was 72.2 % for myeloma patients and 54.8 % for lymphoma patients. While the survival slope decreased steadily throughout the study period for patients with multiple myeloma, it seemed to level out after approximately 18 months for patients with malignant lymphomas. Our data on myeloma patients show survival comparable to previously published data. For malignant lymphoma patients, our data support the assumption that high-dose therapy has the potential for cure.