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Autografting

The role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with primary refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma: a report from the Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio dei Linfomi (GISL)

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 37, pages 283–288 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

GISL recently conducted an exhaustive survey of 1078 patients with Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) enrolled between 1988 and 2002 in different prospective trials. Treatment failure was observed in 82 out of 1078 patients; of these 82 patients with refractory HL, complete information was available for 72, who form the evaluable population of the present study. After the initial therapy failure, 51 patients were treated with conventional salvage chemotherapy (CC) (n=24) or high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) (n=27); 4-year overall survival (OS) was 81% in the HDC group versus 38% in the CC group (P=0.019). The remaining 21 patients had rapidly progressive disease and died. After a median follow-up of 2.8 years, the projected OS for all 72 patients is 58 and 49% at 3 and 5 years, respectively. Age <45 years, the absence of systemic symptoms and a PS <1 predicted a significantly longer OS. Interestingly, the majority of patients with two or three negative prognostic factors did not receive potentially curative therapy. In conclusion, HDC seems to be a reasonable option for selected patients with refractory HL, although the majority of them did not receive a transplant. Finally, patients with a high-risk score had little chance of receiving potentially curative treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by ‘Associazione Angela Serra’, Modena. FM and CS contributed equally to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unità Operativa di Ematologia, Presidio Ospedaliero dell'Annunziata, Azienda Ospedaliera, Cosenza, Italy

    F Morabito & M Gentile

  2. Divisione di Ematologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    C Stelitano & V Callea

  3. Cattedra di Oncologia Medica, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    S Luminari, C Mammi, L Marcheselli & M Federico

  4. Divisione di Medicina, Servizio di Ematologia, Ospedale Miulli, Acquaviva delle Fonti, Bari, Italy

    G Polimeno

  5. Unita Operativa di Ematologia, Ospedale S.Maria Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    F Merli

  6. Unità Operativa di Oncologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Pugliese-Ciaccio, Catanzaro, Italy

    S Molica

  7. Medicina Interna e Oncologia Medica and Laboratorio di Ricerche Biotecnologiche, Università di Pavia, IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy

    P Gobbi

  8. Dipartimento di Ematologia, Ospedale Santo Spirito, Pescara, Italy

    F Angrilli

  9. Unità Operativa di Ematologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Papardo, Messina, Italy

    M Brugiatelli

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  1. F Morabito
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Correspondence to F Morabito.

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Morabito, F., Stelitano, C., Luminari, S. et al. The role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with primary refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma: a report from the Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio dei Linfomi (GISL). Bone Marrow Transplant 37, 283–288 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705235

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