Background The effect of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) versus conventional chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) on the survival of patients with advanced follicular lymphoma (FL) is uncertain. Objectives To elucidate this, FL and HSCT were used as keywords to search in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases. Method After data extraction and quality evaluation, a total of 13 studies were included, seven of which compared auto-HSCT with conventional chemotherapy and the other six compared allo-HSCT with auto-HSCT to the survival of FL patients. Results The results showed that auto-HSCT improved OS, PFS and EFS of FL patients compared with conventional chemotherapy without auto-HSCT. Compared with allo-HSCT, the patients receiving auto-HSCT had longer OS and lower NRM. Conclusions In conclusion, auto-HSCT can provide a survival advantage for patients with FL compared with conventional chemotherapy and allo-HSCT did not result in a survival benefit.
S. Karger AG, Basel.