Salvage Therapy of Progressive and Recurrent Hodgkin’s Disease: Results from a Multicenter Study of the Pediatric DAL/GPOH HD-Study Group.

To evaluate the efficacy of a salvage therapy (ST-HD-86) developed for children and adolescents with progressive or relapsed Hodgkin’s disease (HD) who were primarily treated in the pediatric DAL/GPOH studies. The essential chemotherapeutic elements were ifosfamide, etoposide, prednisone (IEP) and doxorubicine, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine (ABVD). 176 patients with progression (N=51) or first relapse (N=125) were enrolled by 67 centers from six countries between 1986 and 2003. The median time from initial diagnosis to progression/relapse was 1.1 (range, 0.02–17.1) years and the median patients age at the diagnosis of progression/relapse was 14.7 (range, 4.3–24.5) years. Salvage therapy consisted of 3–5 alternating cycles of IEP and ABVD, supplemented in part by 1–2 cycles of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone (COPP) or CCNU, etoposide, prednimustine (CEP). Radiotherapy was given to involved areas using individualized dosages. In the 1990ies, high-dose high dose chemotherapy with stem cell support was introduced for patients with unfavorable prognostic criteria. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) at 10 years after initiation of salvage therapy are 63±4% and 74±4%. Second events occurred in 70 of 176 pts (40%). Risk factor analysis revealed the time until progression/relapse as the most discriminating prognostic factor (p=.0001). Patients with progression had an inferior outcome (DFS 41±7%, OS 51±8%), whereas patients with late relapses (>12 months after end of therapy) do very well (DFS 87±4%, OS 90±4%). The result of study ST-HD-86 with a long-term survival of 74% in this large cohort of patients with progressive or relapsed HD can be considered favorable. While the salvage strategy for patients with progression has to be further optimized, a reduction of intensity might be considered for those patients with late relapses following HD in childhood or adolescence.