High-dose cyclophosphamide, carmustine, and etoposide and autologous bone marrow transplantation for relapsed Hodgkin's disease

• Published in: Annals of internal medicine Vol. 104; no. 2; p. 163
• Main Authors: Jagannath, S, Dicke, K A, Armitage, J O, Cabanillas, F F, Horwitz, L J, Vellekoop, L, Zander, A R, Spitzer, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.1986
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Carmustine - administration & dosage; Carmustine - adverse effects; Combined Modality Therapy; Cyclophosphamide - administration & dosage; Cyclophosphamide - adverse effects; Drug Administration Schedule; Etoposide - administration & dosage; Etoposide - adverse effects; Female; Hodgkin Disease - drug therapy; Hodgkin Disease - therapy; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neutropenia - chemically induced; Recurrence; Thrombocytopenia - chemically induced
• ISSN: 0003-4819
• DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-104-2-163

Thirty patients with relapsed Hodgkin's disease were treated with high-dose cyclophosphamide, carmustine, and etoposide (CBV) and autologous bone marrow transplantation. The median age of the patients was 28 years, and 18 were male. More than half had extranodal sites of relapse and constitutional symptoms. Most had been heavily pretreated with multiple salvage chemotherapy regimens and radiotherapy. At the time of transplantation, 23 patients were having progressive disease despite salvage chemotherapy. High-dose CBV chemotherapy induced complete responses in 15 patients and partial responses in 10 patients. Eleven patients are still in complete remission, 1 of whom has had an unmaintained remission for more than 44 months. Toxicity was moderate; all patients had severe myelosuppression requiring supportive therapy, and 1 patient failed to reconstitute her bone marrow. High-dose CBV chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow rescue proved to be effective as salvage therapy for a select group of heavily pretreated patients with relapsed Hodgkin's disease.