An effective oral combination in advanced relapsed Hodgkin's disease prednisolone, etoposide, chlorambucil and CCNU

Many patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease continue to need palliative therapy, but where there is no curative intent, patients and doctors may prefer oral treatment only. This paper describes the preliminary experience of such a schedule. A total of 15 patients with advanced relapsed Hodgkin's disease were treated with an oral regimen, PECC (prednisolone at 40 mg daily for 7 days, etoposide at 200 mg/m2 on days 1-3, chlorambucil at 20 mg/m2 on days 1-4 and CCNU at 100 mg/m2 on day 1 only), repeated every 4-6 weeks. 12 patients had been extensively pretreated. 11 patients had extranodal disease and 8 had B symptoms when treatment was started. Eight patients achieved a complete remission, with a median duration of 7+ months, and five achieved a partial remission; the overall response rate was 86%. Haematological toxicity was the major side effect. There were no treatment-related deaths. All patients tolerated treatment well and the oral route has particular advantages for those unwilling or unable to accept intravenous treatment.