Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation - Blog Science Connections

Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation in
Burkitt's Lymphoma: 50 Cases in the
Lyons Protocol
T. Philip, P. Biron, I. Philip, D. Frappaz, R. Pinkerton, G. Souillet,
J. L Bernard, J. P. Laporte, N. Philippe, M. DeTerlizzi,
F. Demeocq, J. F. Dufilhaud, B. Kremens,
F. Bonetti, and M. Faurot
Despite the acute sensitivity of Burkitt's lymphoma to both chemotherapy
and radiotherapy, the outcome in advanced or disseminated disease was,
until recently, very poor (1-3). In relapsed patients, long-term survival was
almost unknown. Although predominantly a tumor of childhood (40-60% of
patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL] are under 14 years of age)
(3,4), a small number of adults will have disease that demonstrates the
characteristic diffuse, small noncleaved cellular morphology and behaves in
a similar clinical fashion (5). Encouraging results with allogeneic transplantation
in high-risk and relapsed leukemias and the likelihood that Burkitt's
lymphoma would demonstrate a dose-response effect with intensive chemotherapy
made this tumor an obvious candidate for treatment with massive
chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT).
The first studies by Appelbaum et al. (6,7) showed clearly that a doseresponse
relationship existed and this was subsequently confirmed by a
number of investigators studying a variety of chemotherapeutic regimens
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