Autologous stem-cell transplantation in Hodgkin's lymphoma: analysis of a therapeutic option

Objective: To report the clinical progress of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with autologous transplantation after failure or relapse of first-line treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Methods: The results of a retrospective analysis of 31 patients submitted to autologous transplantation as second-line treatment, between April 2000 and December 2008, were analyzed. Fourteen men and seventeen women, with a median age of 27 years, were submitted to autologous transplantation for relapsed (n = 21) or refractory (n = 10) Hodgkin's lymphoma. Results: Mortality related to treatment in the first 100 days after transplant was 3.2%. With a mean follow-up period of 18 months (range: 1 to 88 months), the probability of global survival and progression-free survival in 18 months was 84 and 80%, respectively. The probability of global survival and progression-free survival at 18 months for patients with chemosensitive relapses (n = 21) was 95 and 90%, respectively, versus 60 and 45% for patients with relapses resistant to chemotherapy (n = 10) (p = 0.001 for global survival; p = 0.003 for progression-free survival). In the multivariate analysis, absence of disease or pretransplant disease < 5 cm were favorable factors for global survival (p= 0.02; RR: 0.072; 95%CI: 0.01-0.85) and progression-free survival (p= 0.01; RR: 0.040; 95%CI: 0.007-0.78). Conclusion: Autologous transplantation of stem-cells is a therapeutic option for Hodgkin's lymphoma patients after the first relapse. Promising results were observed in patients with a low tumor burden at transplant.