What About Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation in Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma?

Autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) as consolidation after high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX)-based induction chemotherapy has emerged as an effective strategy for achieving durable remissions while reducing the need for whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and its associated neurotoxicity risks, according to meta-analyses, randomized trials, and systematic reviews [1,2,13,3]. In younger, eligible patients, randomized studies report comparable efficacy between WBRT and high-dose chemotherapy followed by ASCT, but with superior neurocognitive tolerance after ASCT supporting its preferential use as consolidation in selected patients [2,13].