title: Comparison of Ifosfamide, Carboplatin and Etoposide versus Etoposide, Steroid, and Cytarabine Cisplatin as Salvage Chemotherapy in Patients with Refractory or Relapsed Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Refractory or relapsed Hodgkin's disease (HD) occurs in 10-50% of patients. The treatment of choice for these patients is high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Response to salvage chemotherapy (SCT) partial remission (PR) is necessary before HDCT with ASCT. However, its applicability is restricted mostly to patients responding to salvage chemotherapy. Optimal salvage regimen for these patients is unclear. In this study, our aim was to compare the efficacy profiles of ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE) and etoposide-steroid-cytarabine-cisplatin (ESHAP) (cytosine arabinoside, cisplatin, and dexamethasone) regimens in the salvage treatment of relapsed or refractory HD.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective analysis, 114 patients with primary refractory or relapsed HD who received ICE or ESHAP salvage regimen were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 114 patients, 47 (41.2%) were females and the median age was 31.5 years. Response could be evaluated in 114 patients. Of 114 patients, 38 (33%) achieved complete remission (CR) and 21 (18.4%) achieved PR, leading to an overall response rate (ORR: CR + PR) of 51.4%. In the evaluable ICE group (n= 41), rates of CR, PR, and ORR were 21.9%, 17.1%, and 39% and in the ESHAP group (n= 73), rates of CR, PR, and ORR were 39.7%, 19.2%, and 58.9% (for ORR,P= 0.04), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with relapsed or refractory HD, treatment with ESHAP seems to have higher rates of response than ICE regimen does.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Valiollah
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mehrzad
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ashrafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Farrashi
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Reyhaneh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pourmarjani
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dehghani
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Research Deputy of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Armindokht
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shahsanaei
keywords: Carboplatin; Hodgkin's lymphoma; etoposide; etoposide-steroid-cytarabine-cisplatin; ifosfamide; refractory; relapse