Outcome of Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Treatment Based on High-Dose Chemotherapy and Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: The Experience in the NI Pirogov Russian National Medical Center of Surgery

Aim. To estimate the long-term outcome of the programmed treatment of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL) including high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) as well as the effect of various factors on the achieved results in a single-center study. Materials & Methods. In the A.A. Maksimov Clinical Center of Hematology and Cellular Therapy of the NI Pirogov Russian National Medical Center of Surgery 260 cHL patients received HDCT combined with auto-HSCT within the period from December 2006 to March 2017. The median age was 29 years (range 17–62). The study included 40 % men (n = 104), and 60 % women (n = 156). The median pretransplantation chemotherapy line was 3 (range 2–9). At this stage, prior to auto-HSCT, complete remission (CR) rate was 26.5 %, partial remission (PR) rate was 52.3 %, disease stabilisation rate was 13.5 %. HDCT with auto-HSCT was applied beyond progression as a salvage therapy in 7.7 % of patients. In 79.6 % of patients the standard BEAM and CBV conditioning regimens were used. Results. After HDCT combined with auto-HSCT overall 5-year survival (OS) of 260 cHL patients was 74 %, and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 48 %, which corresponds to the results of some international studies. 5-year OS rates were significantly higher after HDCT and auto-HSCT performed during the first CR or PR (85 %) vs the second and subsequent CR and PR (71 %). Neither gender (p = 0.4) nor ECOG status (p = 0.2) effects on OS and PFS were revealed. 5-year OS rates were significantly higher after HDCT and auto-HSCT performed during CR or PR (82 %) vs disease stabilisation and progression (54 %) as well as upon achieving CR (93 %) vs PR (77 %). Conclusion. In cHL tumor sensitivity to chemotherapy is the essential indication for HDCT combined with auto-HSCT. The optimal time for HDCT and auto-HSCT in cHL is the first CR/PR, and the best treatment outcome is achieved in patients with complete response prior to HDCT and auto-HSCT