[Chemotherapy in pretreated Hodgkin's disease with lomustine, bleomycin, vinblastine and dexamethasone]

A combination of lomustine (120 mg/m2 day 1), bleomycin (15 mg day 1 and 22), vinblastine (6 mg/m2 day 1 and 22) and dexamethasone (3 mg/m2 day 1 up to 21) was used in 20 patients with Hodgkin's disease stage II B (n = 2), III B (n = 4) and IV B (n = 14). These patients had not responded to earlier standard chemotherapy or had had a relapse within one year. Treatment cycles were repeated six-weekly. Nine cases showed complete and six cases partial remission. No change was seen in two cases and progression occurred in three patients. The median time of remission was 10 months. Multiple extranodal involvement had a particularly unfavourable prognosis: only one out of five patients showed remission. Two out of 7 patients with progression during COPP and 3 out of 5 patients with progression during ABVD remitted completely, indicating a slight cross resistance only among the three combinations of chemotherapeutics. Treatment was well tolerated and can be done on an out-patient basis.