Third-line chemotherapy for resistant Hodgkin's disease with lomustine, etoposide, and methotrexate

Thirty-two patients with recurrent Hodgkin's disease have been treated with an oral regimen employing lomustine (CCNU, 100 mg/m2 orally on Day 1); etoposide (VP-16, 100 mg/m2 orally on Days 1-3 and 21-23); and methotrexate (30 mg/m2 orally on Days 1, 8, 21, and 28). The regimen was repeated every 6 weeks. Most patients had been treated with MOPP (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) and ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine); 20 had had prior irradiation. Lymph node was the predominant site of disease and the majority of patients had B symptoms. Four patients achieved complete response (13%), with a median duration of 33+ months, and 11 achieved partial response (34%), with a median duration of 5 months, for an overall response rate of 47%. The major toxic effect was severe myelosuppression, which occurred in six patients; there were no treatment-related deaths. This oral regimen was easy to administer in heavily pretreated patients with poor venous access and had minimal toxicity.