Published online 26 January 2008
Haematologica, Vol 93, Issue 2, 257-264 doi:10.3324/haematol.11828
Copyright © 2008 by Ferrata Storti Foundation

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Stem Cell Transplantation

Fludarabine-melphalan as a preparative regimen for reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic stem cell transplantation in relapsed and refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma: the updated M.D. Anderson Cancer Center experience

Paolo Anderlini^1,, Rima Saliba¹, Sandra Acholonu¹, Sergio A. Giralt¹, Borje Andersson¹, Naoto T. Ueno¹, Chitra Hosing¹, Issa F. Khouri¹, Daniel Couriel¹, Marcos de Lima¹, Muzaffar H. Qazilbash¹, Barbara Pro², Jorge Romaguera², Luis Fayad², Frederick Hagemeister², Anas Younes², Mark F. Munsell³, Richard E. Champlin¹

¹ Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy;
² Lymphoma and
³ Biostatistics, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Correspondence: Paolo Anderlini, M.D., The U.T. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 423, Houston, TX 77030 USA. E-mail: panderli{at}mdanderson.org

Background: The role of reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic stem cell transplantation in relapsed/refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma remains poorly defined. We here present an update of our single-center experience with fludarabine-melphalan as a preparative regimen.

Design and Methods: Fifty-eight patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma underwent RIC and allogeneic stem cell transplantation from a matched related donor (MRD; n=25) or a matched unrelated donor (MUD; n=33). Forty-eight (83%) had undergone prior autologous stem cell transplantation. Disease status at transplant was refractory relapse (n=28) or sensitive relapse (n=30).

Results: Cumulative day 100 and 2-year transplant-related mortality rates were 7% and 15%, respectively (day 100 transplant-related mortality MRD vs. MUD 8% vs. 6%, p=ns; 2-year MRD vs. MUD 13% vs. 16%, p=ns). The cumulative incidence of acute (grade II–IV) graft-versus-host disease in the first 100 days was 28% (MRD vs. MUD 12% vs. 39%, p=0.04). The cumulative incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease at any time was 73% (MRD vs. MUD 57% vs. 85%, p=0.006). Projected 2-year overall and progression-free survival rates are 64% (49–76%) and 32% (20–45%), with 2-year disease progression/relapse at 55% (43–70%). There was no statistically significant differences in overall survival progression-free survival, and disease progression/relapse between MRD and MUD transplants. There was a trend for the response status pretransplant to have a favorable impact on progression-free survival (p=0.07) and disease progression/relapse (p=0.049), but not on overall survival (p=0.4)

Conclusions: Fludarabine-melphalan as a preparative regimen for reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic stem cell transplantation in progression-free survival Hodgkin’s lymphoma is associated with a significant reduction in transplant-related mortality, with comparable results in MRD and MUD allografts. Optimizing pretransplant response status may improve patients’ outcome.

Key words: Hodgkin’s lymphoma, stem cell transplantation.

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