Autologous stem cell transplantation for patients with active Hodgkin's lymphoma:: Long-term outcome of 61 patients from a single institution

Sixty-one patients with refractory or relapsed Hodgkin's lymphoma ( HL) underwent high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation ( ASCT). All patients had active HL at the time of ASCT: 13 patients had partial remission, 14 refractory disease, 18 sensitive relapse, 4 resistant relapse, and 12 nontreated relapse. Overall transplant-related mortality ( TRM) was 16.4% at 1 year. Twenty-eight patients ( 46%) achieved complete remission ( CR). Actuarial 5-year overall survival ( OS) and progression-free survival ( PFS) were 51% and 47%, respectively. Patients with positive gallium-67 scintigraphy at 3-6 months after transplantation had a worse PFS at 5 years (28%) than those with negative 67Ga scan ( 80%) ( p = 0.016), whereas no statistical differences were observed between patients with residual mass and those in CR according to computed tomography scan. In multivariate analysis, bulky disease at diagnosis, bone marrow stem cells, and stage IV at transplant were the only adverse prognostic factors significantly influencing OS. Bulky disease at diagnosis and stage IV at transplant adversely influenced PFS. Although long-term outcome of patients with active HL at the time of ASCT is poor due to a high TRM and a low CR after transplantation, a subgroup of patients with no adverse prognostic factors at ASCT gain benefit from this treatment.