Brazilian experience using high dose sequential chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for malignant lymphomas

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of high-dose sequential chemotherapy in a Brazilian population. METHODS: High-dose cyclophosphamide followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an effective and feasible therapy for refractory/relapsed lymphomas; this regimen has never before been evaluated in a Brazilian population. All patients (106 with high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 77 with Hodgkin's lymphoma) submitted to this treatment between 1998 and 2006 were analyzed. Chemotherapy consisted of the sequential administration of high-dose cyclophosphamide (4 or 7 g/m²) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (300 µg/day), followed by peripheral blood progenitor cell harvesting, administration of etoposide (2g/m²) and methotrexate (8 g/m² only for Hodgkin's lymphoma) and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. RESULTS: At diagnosis, non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients had a median age of 45 (range: 8-65) years old, 78 percent had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and 83 percent had stage III/IV disease. The Hodgkin's lymphoma patients had a median age of 23 (range: 7-68) years old, 64.9 percent had the nodular sclerosis subtype and 65 percent had stage III/IV disease. Nine Hodgkin's lymphoma patients (13 percent) and 10 (9 percent) non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients had some kind of cardiac toxicity. The overall survival, disease-free survival and progression-free survival in Hodgkin's lymphoma were 29 percent, 59 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, these values were 40 percent, 49 percent and 31 percent, respectively. High-dose cyclophosphamide-related mortality was 10 percent for Hodgkin's lymphoma and 5 percent for non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. High-dose cyclophosphamide dosing had no impact on toxicity or survival for both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a greater prevalence of poor prognostic factors, our results are comparable to the literature. The incidence of secondary neoplasias is noteworthy. ...