Lomustine, cytarabine, cyclophosphamide, etoposide - An effective conditioning regimen in autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant for primary refractory or relapsed lymphoma: Analysis of toxicity, long-term outcome, and prognostic factors.

Background: High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is the treatment of choice for patients with relapsed and refractory (RR) lymphoma. We analyzed toxicity and long-term outcome with lomustine, cytarabine, cyclophosphamide, etoposide (LACE) conditioning in patients with primary refractory or relapsed lymphoma undergoing autologous transplant.

Materials And Methods: One-hundred patients with primary refractory (23), chemotherapy sensitive relapse (74) or RR (3) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL - 70 patients), and non-HL (NHL - 30 patients) underwent HSCT with LACE (lomustine 200 mg/m day-7, etoposide 1000 mg/m day-7, cytarabine 2000 mg/m day-6 to day-5, and cyclophosphamide 1800 mg/m day-4 to day-2) conditioning between November 2007 and December 2013. At transplant, 68 patients were in complete remission (CR), 29 in partial remission, 2 had stable disease, and 1 had progressive disease. Patients were followed up for development of transplant-related toxicities and long-term survival outcome.

Results: The incidence of grades 3-4 oral mucositis and grades 3-4 diarrhea was 8% and 4%, respectively. Median days to myeloid and platelet engraftment were 10 and 13. Transplant-related mortality was 7%. At median follow-up of 3 years, probability of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) at 3 years was 70% and 58% in entire cohort, 78% and 62% in HL and 51% and 46% in NHL subgroup, respectively. International Prognostic Score (IPS) >2 at relapse prognosticated for poor OS (P = 0.002) and PFS (P < 0.001) in HL subgroup. Positron emission tomography positivity pretransplant (HL subgroup) and at day + 100 (NHL subgroup) predicted for poor survival.

Conclusion: We conclude that LACE is effective and well-tolerated conditioning regimen. IPS at relapse is the most important prognostic factor in HL transplant.