Successful salvage treatment for relapse after autologous stem cell transplantation in a patient with Hodgkin's disease - a case report

We report a patient who relapsed 12 months after undergoing high-dose chemo therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation for refractory Hod gkin's disease, nodular sclerosis. The patient received sequential single-d ose chemotherapy consisting of 140 mg/m(2) epirubicin, 1.4 mg/m(2) vincrist ine, and 50 mg/m(2) prednisole on day 1, followed by 4000 mg/m(2) cyclophos phamide on day 15 and 2000 mg/m(2) etoposide on day 30. This regimen was gi ven twice, predominantly on an outpatient basis without major toxicity. The patient reached a complete remission and has remained free of disease afte r an observation period of 48 months. Single-dose sequential treatment shou ld be considered for refractory Hodgkin's disease, even for relapse after h igh-dose chemotherapy, as escalated single doses of cytostatic agents may o vercome drug resistance.