Seven-year follow-up of allogeneic transplant using BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma after autograft failure: importance of minimal residual disease

Allogeneic transplant using reduced intensity conditioning is a therapeutic option for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who relapse after an autograft. This was a prospective study of 31 consecutive eligible patients with HL who relapsed after an autograft and underwent an allograft using BEAM (BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan) conditioning. At a median follow-up of 7 years the progression-free survival (PFS) was 36% (95% confi dence interval [CI] 19-54%) and overall survival (OS) was 42% (95% CI 23-59%). In multivariate analysis only residual disease at the time of transplant predicted outcome, with a 4-year PFS and OS of 62% and 75% for patients with minimal residual disease versus 8% and 8% for patients with gross residual disease, respectively ( p = 0.005 and p = 0.001, respectively). This benefit seemed to be irrespective of chemosensitivity, with an OS for patients with chemorefractory yet minimal disease of 71% at 4 years. BEAM allogeneic transplant is effective in producing long-term remissions after autograft failure. Regardless of chemosensitivity, minimizing tumor burden pre-transplant may improve long-term outcome.