title: Superiority of reduced-intensity allogeneic transplantation over conventional treatment for relapse of Hodgkin's lymphoma following autologous stem cell transplantation.
abstract: This study compares outcome of reduced-intensity conditioned transplant (RIT) with outcome of conventional non-transplant therapy in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma relapsing following autograft. There were 72 patients in two groups who had relapsed, and received salvage therapy with chemotherapy+/-radiotherapy. One group (n=38) then underwent alemtuzumab-containing RIT. The second group-historical controls (n=34), relapsing before the advent of RIT-had no further high-dose therapy. This group was required to respond to salvage therapy and live for over 12 months post-relapse, demonstrating potential eligibility for RIT, had this been available. Overall survival (OS) from diagnosis was superior following RIT (48% at 10 years versus 15%; P=0.0014), as was survival from autograft (65% at 5 years versus 15%; P< or =0.0001). For the RIT group, OS at 5 years from allograft was 51%, and in chemoresponsive patients was 58%, with current progression-free survival of 42%. Responses were seen in 8 of 15 patients receiving donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) for relapse/progression, with durable remission in five patients at median follow-up from DLI of 45 months (28-55). These data demonstrate the potential efficacy of RIT in heavily pre-treated patients whose outlook with conventional therapy is dismal, and provide evidence of a clinically relevant graft-versus-lymphoma effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK. kirsty.thomson@uclh.nhs.uk
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Peggs
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cavet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pettengell
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Milligan
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Goldstone
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Linch
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mackinnon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D020350:Graft vs Tumor Effect; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous