title: High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant in adolescent patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: Fifty-eight adolescent patients with relapsed or primary refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma underwent high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous SCT (ASCT). The median age at ASCT was 17 years (range 14-21). The disease had relapsed in 24 patients (41%) and was refractory to initial chemotherapy in 34 (59%). ESHAP salvage chemotherapy before ASCT resulted in 88% response. After ASCT, complete remission (CR; including CR-unconfirmed) was seen in 41 patients (71%) and partial remission in 7 (12%). The overall response rate was 83%. One patient did not respond and nine (15%) had progressive disease. Three more patients achieved CR after consolidative radiation post-ASCT. There was no transplant-related mortality. At a median follow-up of 43 months from ASCT, 31 patients (53%) are alive in CR, 5 (9%) are alive with disease and 22 (38%) have died (21 from disease and 1 unrelated). The actuarial probabilities of event-free and overall (OS) survival are 45 and 55% at 11 years. The only negative prognostic factor for OS was the presence of B symptom at relapse or progression (11-year OS 27 vs 60%, P=0.003).
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. sakhtar@kfshrc.edu.sa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El Weshi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdelsalam
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al Husseini
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maghfoor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D055815:Young Adult