High-Dose Cytoxan, Etoposide, and Cisplatin Followed by Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma: A 20-Year Single-Institutional Experience.

Since 1988 we have treated 66 patients with relapsed, refractory, or high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma (HD) with high-dose CEP consisting of cyclophosphamide 1,500 mg/m2/day × 4 (total dose, 6,000 mg/m2), etoposide 400 mg/m2 twice daily × 6 doses (total dose, 2,400 mg/m2), and cisplatin 50 mg/m2/day × 3 by continuous i.v. infusion (total dose 150 mg/m2) followed by infusion of autologous peripheral blood stem cells (n=49), bone marrow (n=16), or both (n=1). The patient population included 41 males and 25 females. The median age at transplant was 33 years (range, 17–64 years). Twenty-three patients (35%) had never achieved complete remission prior to transplant, 36 (55%) had previously achieved a complete remission but subsequently relapsed, and 3 (5%) were in first complete remission. Information regarding the disease status at transplant was unavailable for 4 patients (6%). Twenty-seven patients (41%) remain alive and free of any post-transplant relapse or progression as of the most recent follow-up, and an additional 10 patients (15%) manifested active disease post-transplant but are currently in remission following additional post-transplant therapy, yielding a total of 37 patients (56%) currently in CR. In addition, 5 patients (8%) remain alive with active disease, 23 patients (35%) died of progressive disease, and only 2 patients (3%) died of treatment-related causes including diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (1 patient) and hepatic veno-occlussive disease (1 patient). With a median follow-up of 4.4 years among surviving patients, the Kaplan-Meier 5-year estimates for event-free survival and overall survival are 34% and 60%, respectively, and five-year survival was superior among patients who had achieved at least one CR prior to transplant versus patients who had never been in CR prior to transplant (71% versus 43%, p = 0.03). Detailed adverse events data is available regarding all patients transplanted since September 1996: Of these, only 3 (7%) suffered grade 3 or greater pulmonary toxicity, 12 (29%) exhibited grade 3 or higher mucositis, and 10 (24%) had grade 3 or higher nausea or vomiting. The median number of days from transplant to neutrophil recovery (500 cells/uL) was 10 days, whereas the median number of days to platelet recovery (20,000 cells/uL) was 12 days. We conclude that high- dose CEP followed by autologous transplant is an active and well-tolerated treatment program in patients with relapsed or refractory HD. The low incidence of pulmonary toxicity is noteworthy given that a high percentage of patients had been exposed to bleomycin and/or thoracic XRT prior to transplant, and appears to be superior to that reported with conventional CBV-conditioned transplants in patients with HD.