Gemcitabine and vinorelbine therapy for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma

Abstract

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is very responsive to front-line therapy, with durable event-free survival exceeding 75%. Survivors suffer long-term effects of therapy and some experience recurrent or refractory disease requiring rescue therapy. High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation increases the chance for long-term survival in this population, especially when reinduction therapy achieves complete response. As single agents, or within combination regimens, gemcitabine and vinorelbine have favorable toxicity profiles and are active against multiple malignancies, including relapsed and refractory HL. In Phase II trials the response to the combination of gemcitabine and vinorelbine in relapsed/refractory HL is better than or comparable to other more toxic regimens. The combination was not more effective than other drugs in front-line HL treatment; however, its addition to upfront therapy of slow-responding patients with HL is likely to enhance effectiveness with low toxicity.