Involved field radiation therapy following high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant benefits local control and survival in refractory or recurrent Hodgkin lymphoma

Background and purposePatients with recurrent or primary refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treated with high dose chemotherapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) commonly relapse post-ASCT in previous disease sites. We sought to evaluate involved field radiation therapy (IFRT) following ASCT and patterns of recurrence, overall survival (OS), and disease specific survival (DSS).Methods and materialsBetween May 1993 and October 2003, 62 (n = 66) evaluable patients with refractory/relapsed HL underwent HDT followed by ASCT. Thirty-two (52%) patients received IFRT following transplant. Survival was calculated from the day of hematopoietic stem cell infusion.ResultsMedian follow-up was 2.3 years (range 0.03–11.56). Estimated 3-year OS (p = 0.05) and DSS (p = 0.08) were 69.6% and 82.1% with IFRT and 40% and 57.6% without IFRT on univariate analysis. B-symptoms were adverse on univariate (p = 0.007) and multivariate (p = 0.01) analysis. HL patients who received IFRT following ASCT had improved local control in areas of previously recurrent disease (p = 0.03).ConclusionOS and DSS showed marginal benefit at 3 years. Given the retrospective nature of our study and attendant selection bias that can be both positive and negative, a future prospective study is warranted to better understand the value of IFRT in the transplant setting.