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Stem Cell Treatment for Mantle Cell Lymphoma

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (p. 5) reports notable progress in the treatment of mantle zone non-hodgkins lymphoma. The Mayo Clinic treats mantle zone non-hodgkins lymphoma with a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and bone marrow stem cell transplants.

  1. Types

    • The Mayo Clinic explains types of bone marrow stem cell transplants. Allogenic transplants use stem cells from the blood or bone marrow of a donor. Autologous transplants use stem cells collected from your blood or bone marrow prior to chemotherapy and stored until the transplant.

    Natural Killer Cells

    • Bone Marrow Transplant: Immunomodulation of Natural Killer Cells explains that natural killer cells comprise 5% to 8% of human peripheral blood lymphocytes. The natural killer cell is antibody independent and attaches to target lymphoma cells to kill them. The blood or bone marrow to be transplanted is used as a medium for growth of natural killer cells deliberately added to the specimen and incubated to a desired ratio of NK cells (50:1).

    Procedure

    • Stem cell transplantation is infusing stem cells through your port or central intravenous line as explained by Mayo Clinic: Stem Cell Transplant: What to expect. The procedure takes one to five hours. The transplanted stem cells fill in your bone marrow and begin creating new bone marrow and stem cells.

    Relapse

    • Bone Marrow Transplant: Mantle-cell Lymphoma Relapsing after Stem Cell Transplant reports high relapse rates during the first year after stem cell transplantation because of remaining cancer cells that have not been destroyed by chemotherapy. Life expectancy beyond diagnosis has doubled from two to four years as a result of stem cell therapy.

    Recovery

    • Bone Marrow Transplant: Immunomodulation of Natural Killer Cells explains immune recovery as the return of a normal percentage of natural killer (NK) cells one month after the stem cell transplant. Natural killer cells comprise 5% to 8% of human peripheral white blood cells.

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