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Feasibility and Efficacy of High-Dose Melphalan, Cyclophosphamide, Etoposide, and Dexamethasone (LEED) Chemotherapy with or without Rituximab Followed by Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Aggressive and Relapsed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

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Abstract

To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for patients with newly diagnosed aggressive and relapsed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), we administered LEED, a drug-only HDCT regimen consisting of melphalan, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and dexamethasone, followed by ASCT in this single-institution trial. Furthermore, rituximab was added to the LEED regimen (R-LEED) for patients with CD20+ NHL.Twenty-six patients in the LEED group and 24 patients in the R-LEED group were enrolled and assessed for this study. All patients achieved complete engraftment after ASCT. As for the nonhematologic toxicities, infection toxicities of grades 3 and 4 were observed in 9 patients (34.6%) of the LEED group and 12 patients (50%) of the R-LEED group. Four patients (15.4%) in the LEED group and 5 (20.8%) in the R-LEED group developed grade 3 toxicity in the elevation of aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase levels. Other grade 4 toxicities were rare in both groups. With a median follow-up time from the date of ASCT of 30 months in the LEED group and 18 months in the R-LEED group, the overall survival rates were 66.5% and 78.2%, respectively.These results suggested that LEED, as well as R-LEED, was a safe and feasible high-dose regimen for aggressive and relapsed NHL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The First Clinical College of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China

    Li-na Han & Jin Zhou

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Niigata Cancer Center Hospital, 2-15-3 Kawagishimachi, 951-8566, Niigata City, Niigata, Japan

    Li-na Han, Takayuki Hirose, Yosuke Imai, Takuro Ishiguro & Takaaki Chou

Authors
  1. Li-na Han
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  2. Jin Zhou
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  3. Takayuki Hirose
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  4. Yosuke Imai
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  5. Takuro Ishiguro
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  6. Takaaki Chou
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Correspondence to Takaaki Chou.

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Han, Ln., Zhou, J., Hirose, T. et al. Feasibility and Efficacy of High-Dose Melphalan, Cyclophosphamide, Etoposide, and Dexamethasone (LEED) Chemotherapy with or without Rituximab Followed by Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Aggressive and Relapsed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Int J Hematol 84, 174–181 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1532/IJH97.06023

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