Dexa-BEAM in patients with Hodgkin's disease refractory to multidrug chemotherapy regimens: a trial of the German Hodgkin's Disease Study Group.

Purpose - A prospective phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone, carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan (Dexa-BEAM) as salvage chemotherapy for patients with Hodgkin's disease. - Patients and Methods - Fifty-five patients progressing on or relapsing afte...

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Main Authors: Pfreundschuh, Michael (Author) , Rueffer, U. (Author) , Lathan, B. (Author) , Schmitz, N. (Author) , Brosteanu, O. (Author) , Hasenclever, D. (Author) , Haas, Rainer (Author) , Kirchner, H. (Author) , Koch, P. (Author) , Kuse, R. (Author) , Loeffler, Markus (Author) , Diehl, Volker (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: March 01, 1994
In: Journal of clinical oncology
Year: 1994, Volume: 12, Issue: 3, Pages: 580-586
ISSN:1527-7755
DOI:10.1200/JCO.1994.12.3.580
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.1994.12.3.580
Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.1994.12.3.580
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Author Notes:Michael G. Pfreundschuh, Ulrich Rueffer, Bernd Lathan, Norbert Schmitz, Oana Brosteanu, Dirk Hasenclever, Rainer Haas, Hartmut Kirchner, Peter Koch, Rolf Kuse, Markus Loeffler, and Volker Diehl
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Summary:Purpose - A prospective phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone, carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan (Dexa-BEAM) as salvage chemotherapy for patients with Hodgkin's disease. - Patients and Methods - Fifty-five patients progressing on or relapsing after eight- or 10-drug chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone plus doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine [COPP+ABVD] or COPP+ABV+ifosfamide, methotrexate, etoposide, and prednisone [IMEP]) were treated with Dexa-BEAM. Patients who responded after two cycles of Dexa-BEAM either continued treatment for another two to three cycles or received high-dose chemotherapy/autologous bone marrow transplantation (HDCT/ABMT) with cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and carmustine (BCNU) (CVB) as conditioning regimen. - Results - Seventeen patients (31%) achieved a complete remission and 16 (29%) a partial remission, resulting in a response rate of 60% (95% confidence interval, 46% to 73%). Progressive disease developed in 18 patients. Toxicity of Dexa-BEAM was acceptable with pronounced, but temporary World Health Organization (WHO) grade III/IV granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia occurring in more than 90% of all courses. Two patients died of sepsis during granulocytopenia. Three prognostic subgroups could be distinguished: (1) patients progressing on initial chemotherapy, (2) patients relapsing within 12 months, and (3) patients with late relapses. The response rates for these groups were 52%, 60%, and 83%, and the median survival duration 12, 29, and 40+ months, respectively. In a nonrandomized comparison, the survival of patients who responded to two cycles of Dexa-BEAM and had additional cycles of Dexa-BEAM (n = 14) was not different from those responding patients who underwent HDCT/ABMT (n = 19). However, the power to detect a 20% survival difference was only 33% in this comparison. - Conclusion - Dexa-BEAM is an effective salvage treatment for patients with Hodgkin's disease who fail to respond to multidrug chemotherapy. Efficacy and toxicity are comparable to HDCT/ABMT and underline the need for prospective randomized trials to define better the role of HDCT with and without ABMT in these patients.
Item Description:Elektronische Reproduktion der Druck-Ausgabe 21. September 2016
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Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1527-7755
DOI:10.1200/JCO.1994.12.3.580