Allogenic stem cell transplantation response for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma patients: An experience in Iran

Stem cell transplantation (SCT) is a potentially curative therapeutic approach for patients diagnosed with high-risk classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL), a rare lymphoproliferative disorder. This study presents a comprehensive retrospective analysis of 273 patients with relapsed or refractory cHL referred to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran, Iran, over a 14-year period (2007–2021). The results indicated that 63 % of individuals receiving autologous-SCT achieved a complete response. However, approximately 4 % of the study population (10 patients) experienced treatment failure after autologous-SCT and proceeded to allogeneic-SCT (Group I). Additionally, in ten other cases, autologous-SCT was not feasible, and treatment was exclusively managed through allogeneic-SCT (Group II). Demographic and clinical characteristics, including gender, cHL subtype, history of radiotherapy, presence of bulky disease, and incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), were collected and analyzed to assess treatment outcomes. The overall survival (OS) was 42.1 months for Group I and 17.3 months for Group II. Although the overall complete response (CR) for the entire cohort was 45 %, the corresponding CR for Groups I and II were 60 and 30 %, respectively. In conclusion, allogenic-SCT appears to be a viable therapeutic strategy for at least 50 % of patients experiencing autologous-SCT failure. The efficacy of allogenic-SCT may be influenced by factors such as cHL subtype, and prior auto-SCT therapy. Notably, individuals in Group I who experienced graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) exhibited prolonged survival.