Phase II trial of etoposide and cis-diaminodichloro-platinum in patients with refractory and relapsed Hodgkin's disease: Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Study 8353.

A phase II study was conducted by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) in patients with refractory and relapsed Hodgkin's disease (HD) to assess the activity of the combination of etoposide and cis-platin. Twenty-seven patients were entered; 22 were evaluated for this report. Treatment consisted of etoposide (VP-16), 80 mg/m2 IV over 1 hour and cis-platin, 20 mg/m2 IV over 1/2-1 hour; both agents were given daily for 5 days and repeated every 21 days. All patients had received at least 2 prior chemotherapy regimens, had measurable disease, and most (86%) had a performance status of 0-1. In the 22 evaluable patients, there were 4 complete responses (18%) and 4 partial responses, for an overall response rate of 36% (95% Cl: 17.2%, 59.3%). Response duration was from 2.1 to 31 months. Significant toxicity was observed with this regimen. Ten patients (45%) had leukopenia less than 1,000/microliters, and 11 patients (50%) had thrombocytopenia less than 25,000/microliters. Serum creatinine levels reached greater than 2.0 in 14% of patients. Seven patients (32%) had severe nausea and vomiting. VP-16, cis-platin appears to be an active combination in HD; however, their combined activity is only marginally better than reported single-agent activity for VP-16 in the doses and schedule used. Further studies of related combinations in HD are currently under evaluation by the CALGB.