HSCT should be considered for young patients with WM who have chemosensitive disease at the time of their first or second disease relapse and also for newly diagnosed patients with very high-risk WM.
A study by Cornell and colleagues demonstrated significantly improved outcomes of patients with WM 5 years after allogeneic HSCT, most notably progression-free survival of 42% and overall survival of 52%. Patients with chemosensitive WM whose pretransplant status was more stable before allogenic HSCT experienced significant increase in overall survival.
A risk assessment using the International Prognostic Scoring System for WM should be performed in all patients before HSCT.
HSCT is an important treatment consideration for WM and is not a treatment option of last resort.
Although Raynaud phenomenon may be present in patients for > 5 years before the diagnosis of WM, the presence of Raynaud phenomenon has no bearing on the efficacy of HSCT in this patient population.
For more on HSCT for patients with WM, read here.
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Cite this: Emmanuel C. Besa. Fast Five Quiz: Can You Diagnose Waldenström Macroglobulinemia? - Medscape - Mar 13, 2019.
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