BuCyE can safely replace BEAM as a conditioning regimen for autologous stem cell transplantation in the treatment of refractory and relapsed lymphomas.

INTRODUCTION

Hodgkin's (HL) and non-Hodgkin's (NHL) lymphomas have usually high cure rates. The standard of care for chemosensitive relapsed/refractory lymphoma patients is salvage chemotherapy followed by AHSCT. Due to carmustine and melphalan shortages, alternative pre-AHSCT conditioning regimens with similar tolerance and response were needed.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the efficacy and toxicity profile between relapsed/refractory HL and NHL lymphomas given BEAM or BuCyE.

METHODS

A retrospective analyses of 122 patients in a Brazilian center was made. OS and PFS were calculated by Kaplan-Meier and compared by log rank. Toxicity and engraftment data were also compared.

RESULTS

Most clinical characteristics were similar between groups, although a higher frequency of grade ≥ 2 mucositis (p = .01) was seen in the BuCyE group. No significant difference in OS or PFS were observed between the groups.

CONCLUSION

BEAM and BuCyE are well tolerated with similar toxicity profiles and survival outcomes. Therefore, BuCyE conditioning regimen can be considered an alternative to BEAM.