Brazilian experience using high-dose sequential chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

Purpose: We evaluate the effectiveness and toxicity of high-dose sequential chemotherapy (HDS) as salvage therapy in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma.
Patients and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis on 77 patients receiving HDS between 1998 and 2006. Patients enrolled were in disease progression or relapsed disease, or did not achieve a complete remission after first-line treatment. HDS consisted of the sequential administration of cyclophosphamide and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor with stem cell harvesting, followed by methotrexate plus vincristine and etoposide.
Results: The majority of patients had stage III/IV (64%) and B symptoms (71.4%). Disease status improvement after HDS was observed in 24 of 57 patients (42%) previously in disease progression or relapse. HDS-related deaths occurred in 8 of 77 patients (10.4%). Four patients (5.2%) developed acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome. Overall, disease-free and progression-free survival was 27%, 57%, and 25%, respectively.
Conclusion: Despite the treatment-related mortality, HDS is feasible, with satisfactory response rates, even in patients with poor prognosis.