[Treatment of advanced stage Hodgkin disease with CCNU, etoposide and prednimustine (CEP)]

The authors treated 21 advanced, pretreated Hodgkin's disease patients with CEP (CCNU, etoposide, prednimustine) polychemotherapy between March 1988 and February 1993. Complete remission was achieved in 4 patients, partial remission in 8 patients, while 9 patients were unresponsive to treatment. None of the complete responders relapsed during the follow-up period, and the median duration of remission was 24 months. The median survival for the unresponsive and partially responsive patients was less than half a year. Side-effects included gastrointestinal symptoms, myelosuppression and alopecia, but treatment-related deaths did not occur. The present data confirm the favourable impact of CEP polychemotherapy on pretreated, advanced Hodgkin's disease patients.