ESHAP salvage therapy for refractory and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a single center experience.
BACKGROUND
The ESHAP chemotherapy regimen, that is, the combination of the etoposide, methylprednisolone, high-dose cytarabine and cisplatin, has been shown to be active against relapsing or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in previous therapeutic trials. We attempted to determine whether ESHAP therapy would be effective and well-tolerated in Korean patients.


METHODS
Twenty two patients with refractory or relapsed NHLs (all aggressive types) were enrolled in this study. We retrospectively evaluated the treatment response, the survival rate and the time to progression.


RESULTS
Six patients (27.3%) attained complete remission and eight patients (36.4%) attained partial remission. The overall response rate was 63.6%. The median survival duration was 15.5 months (95% confidence interval; 10.7 to 20.3 months), and the median duration of the time to progression was 8.3 months (95% confidence interval; 0.3 to 16.3 months). Myelosuppression was the major toxicity, but severe neutropenia or thrombocytopenia was rare, and renal toxicity was also infrequent.


CONCLUSIONS
ESHAP regimen is effective in Korean patients suffering with relapsed or refractory NHLs, but a more effective salvage modality is needed because of the short duration of remission and the insignificant impact on long-term survival.
Park
Sang Hyoung
SH
Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Shin
S
Ko
Ok Bae
OB
Koo
Ja Eun
JE
Lee
Danbi
D
Jeong
Yong Pil
YP
Huh
Jooryung
J
Kim
Sung-Bae
SB
Kim
Sang We
SW
Lee
Jae-Lyun
JL
Suh
Cheolwon
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018450:Disease Progression; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D011241:Prednisone; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017211:Treatment Failure
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003561:Cytarabine; D005047:Etoposide; D002945:Cisplatin; D011241:Prednisone; D008775:Methylprednisolone