Lomustine and melphalan cannot be replaced by cyclophosphamide and etoposide without reducing efficacy in MOPPEBVCAD chemotherapy for advanced Hodgkin's disease

Background and Objectives. To evaluate the feasibility, toxicity and prelim inary results of a potentially less toxic variant of the MOPPEBVCAD chemoth erapy regimen for advanced Hodgkin's disease: MOPPEBVCyED, in which cycloph osphamide and etoposide replace lomustine and melphalan, respectively, with the remaining components being unaltered. Design and Methods. The study was multicenter, prospective and randomized, and enrolled 67 patients with newly diagnosed stage IIB, III, IV Hodgkin's disease (62 were expected on the grounds of statistical considerations). Ra diotherapy was restricted to sites of bulky involvement or to areas that re sponded incompletely to chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 48 months. Results. Comparing MOPPEBVCAD vs. MOPPEBVCyED, the results were as follows: complete remissions 35/35 vs. 30/32 (plus one partial remission and one di sease progression); relapses 5 vs. 8; deaths 2 (one of myelodysplasia) vs. 2; delivered mean dose intensity (DI): lomustine 0.79+/-0.67 vs. cyclophosp hamide 0.82+/-0.32; melphalan 0.80+/-0.13 vs. etoposide 0.86+/-0.18; averag e DI of the 7 drugs common to both regimens 0.73+/-0.10 vs. 0.83+/-0.11; al l 9 drugs 0.75+/-0.13 vs. 0.84+/-0.09 (p=0.002); projected 5-year failure f ree survival 0.79 vs 0.62; second cancers, two myelodysplasias vs. one carc inoma of the kidney. Toxicities were not statistically different except for heavier thrombocytopenia being recorded with MOPPEBVCAD. Interpretation and Conclusions. The higher cumulative and single drug DI re corded with MOPPEBVCyED may reflect better short-term tolerability, but it does not lead to better disease control. Its late toxicity may be expected to be lower in the future but at present it does not seem to be a sufficien t reason to substitute MOPPEBVCyED for MOPPEBVCAD. (C) 2000, Ferrata Storti Foundation.