A Meta-analysis of Patients Receiving Allogeneic or Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant in Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome

The survival outlook in advanced mycosis fungoides (MF) is poor. Autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants (SCT) have been shown, in small case series and case reports, to have the potential for long-term remission or to alter disease course. Allogeneic SCT is thought to have a curative potential secondary to a graft-versus-lymphoma (GVL) effect. A patient-level meta-analysis was performed to compare the outcome of allogeneic versus autologous SCT in patients with MF/Sézary syndrome (SS) using 39 cases from the literature. There were a total of 20 allogeneic and 19 autologous transplant cases. The gender, age, and stage distribution was similar between the transplant groups. The allogeneic group received significantly more systemic therapies prior to transplant (P < .0005) and had longer follow-up after transplant. Overall survival (OS) results showed a more favorable outcome of patients who received allogeneic SCT (P = .027). Event-free survival (EFS) demonstrated a more durable response in patients who received allogeneic SCT (P = .002). In the allogeneic group, the majority (70%) of patients experienced persistent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), mostly with mild to moderate severity, and 2 of 4 deaths were related to GVHD. Meanwhile, the majority of the deaths (8 of 10) in the autologous group were because of progressive disease. These results support the belief that allogeneic SCT offers a better survival and disease-free outcome versus autologous SCT in MF/SS, likely because of a GVL effect.