title: Dexa-BEAM is not effective in patients with relapsed or resistant aggressive high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and response of the Dexa-BEAM regimen as a salvage therapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBCST) in responding patients with high-grade relapsed or resistant aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Sixteen pretreated patients (mean age 44, range 26-59) with relapsed (8) or resistant (8) NHL were treated with 1-4 cycles of Dexa-BEAM (dexamethasone, BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan) in order to attain maximal response. Patients achieving complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) received HDCT with PBSCT. The conditioning regimen used was BEAM. Three patients achieved CR and one patient PR, resulting in an overall response rate of 25%. Three of four responding patients underwent high-dose chemotherapy and were successfully transplanted with autologous blood stem cells. Progressive disease developed in one patient after transplantation. Myelosuppression (WHO grade III- grade IV), the major side effect, was observed in all courses of Dexa-BEAM. Myelosuppression-related infection WHO grade IV occurred in four patients. The protocol was not well tolerated in this heavily pretreated group of patients with four severe myelosuppression-related infections WHO grade IV and one treatment-related death. The overall response rate in this study is not comparable to other salvage regimens published and led to the discontinuation of the trial. In conclusion Dexa-BEAM was only effective in a minority of patients with refractory or relapsed aggressive NHL and was not useful as a cytoreductive regimen prior to HDCT.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reiser
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Josting
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dias Wickramanayake
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Draube
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheid
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tesch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002330:Carmustine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D005047:Etoposide; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008558:Melphalan / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012008:Recurrence; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D005047:Etoposide; D003907:Dexamethasone; D008558:Melphalan; D002330:Carmustine