High-dose infusional gemcitabine combined with busulfan and melphalan with autologous stem-cell transplantation in patients with refractory lymphoid malignancies.

We developed a new high-dose combination of infusional gemcitabine with busulfan and melphalan for lymphoid tumors. Gemcitabine dose was escalated by extending infusions at a fixed rate of 10 mg/m(2)/min in sequential cohorts, in daily, 3-dose or 2-dose schedules. Each gemcitabine dose immediately preceded busulfan (adjusted targeting area under the curve 4,000 μM/min(-1)/day × 4 days) or melphalan (60 mg/m(2)/day × 2 days). We enrolled 133 patients (80 Hodgkin lymphoma [HL], 46 non-Hodgkin lymphoma [NHL], 7 myeloma), median 3 prior regimens; primary refractory disease in 63% HL/45% NHL and positron emission tomography positive tumors at transplantation in 50% patients. Two patients died from early posttransplantation infections. The major toxicity was mucositis. The daily and 3-dose schedules caused substantial cutaneous toxicity. In contrast, the 2-dose schedule was better tolerated, which allowed us to extend the infusions from 15 to 270 minutes. Pretransplantation values of C-reactive protein, B-type natriuretic peptide, ferritin, or haptoglobin did not correlate with toxicity. Overall response and complete response rates were 87%/62% (HL), 100%/69% B large-cell lymphoma (B-LCL), 66%/66% (T-NHL), and 71%/57% (myeloma). At median follow-up of 24 months (range, 3-63 months), the event-free/overall survival rates were 54%/72% (HL), 60%/89% (B-LCL), 70%/70% (T-NHL), and 43%/43% (myeloma). In conclusion, gemcitabine/busulfan/melphalan is a feasible regimen with substantial activity against a range of lymphoid malignancies. This regimen merits further evaluation in phase II and III trials.