High-dose conditioning regimens commonly used in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma are BEAM (BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan), BEAC (BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine, and cyclophosphamide), CBV (cyclophosphamide, carmustine, and etoposide), and combination regimen with total body irradiation. Three-year progression free survival of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma received above high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell rescue was reported as 40-50%, which is still unsatisfactory.~Busulfan (Bu)-based preparative regimens, which are commonly used with allogeneic stem cell transplantation have also been studied with autologous stem cell transplantation for lymphomas.~The development of intravenous busulfan achieved 100% bioavailability bypassing the oral route and increased safety and reliability of generating therapeutic busulfan levels, maximizing efficacy.~Recently, one prospective study showed that a combination conditioning regimen of intravenous busulfan, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide was found to be well tolerated and seemed to be effective in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Another prospective study for patients with multiple myeloma showed that intravenous busulfan plus melphalan conditioning regimen made no grade 3-4 non-hematologic complication.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of busulfan, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan (BuEAM) as a conditioning for autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.