Follicular NHL, a type of blood cancer, is the second most common type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, with approximately 15,000 new cases being diagnosed each year in the United States. Chemotherapy is a common treatment option for people with NHL, and at first most people achieve cancer remission with initial chemotherapy. However, after the initial chemotherapy, people with this disease typically experience a continuous pattern of relapse that results in progressively shorter remission durations. A blood stem cell transplant is another treatment option for people with follicular NHL. In a blood stem cell transplant procedure, healthy blood stem cells are taken from a donor and transplanted into the patient. The cells can be donated by a family member or an unrelated donor who has a similar tissue type. Typically, people who are undergoing a blood stem cell transplant receive high doses of chemotherapy before the transplant to prepare their bodies to accept the donor stem cells. In this study, participants will undergo a type of stem cell transplant called a nonmyeloablative transplant, which involves a reduced intensity method of transplantation that does not require high doses of chemotherapy. The purpose of the study is to examine the effectiveness of a nonmyeloablative allogeneic blood stem cell transplant at improving survival rates in people with relapsed follicular NHL.~This study will enroll people with relapsed follicular NHL. At a baseline study visit, participants will undergo a medical history review, physical examination, blood collection, lung function testing, computed tomography (CT) scans, a bone marrow biopsy, and questionnaires to assess quality of life. Participants will be admitted to the hospital and on various days in the 2 weeks before the transplant, they will receive fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, rituximab, which are cancer medications, and tacrolimus, a medication that will help prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which is an attack by the donor cells on the body's normal tissues. Participants will then undergo the blood stem cell transplant. At various times during the 2 weeks after the transplant, participants will receive rituximab and methotrexate, which is another medication to prevent GVHD. They will also receive tacrolimus for at least 6 months to help prevent GVHD. Participants will remain in the hospital for as long as necessary to recover from the transplant. Follow-up study visits will occur weekly for Weeks 1 to 14, and then at Months 6, 12, 18, and 24. At each study visit, select baseline procedures will be repeated.
Blood stem cell transplants are one treatment option for people with lymphoma or other types of blood cancers. For this type of treatment, family members or unrelated donors with a similar tissue type usually donate their blood stem cells to the transplant patients. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a type of blood stem cell transplant that uses lower doses of chemotherapy in people with relapsed follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).