RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of arsenic trioxide in treating patients who have relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's disease.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the efficacy of arsenic trioxide in terms of rate of response (complete or partial remission), duration of response, relapse free survival, and overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's disease. II. Evaluate the toxicities of this agent in this patient population. III. Elucidate the mechanism of action of this treatment by measuring induction of apoptosis and caspace activation when given to these patients. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive arsenic trioxide IV over 1-2 hours daily for up to 60 days. After 4-6 weeks of rest, patients receive up to 5 additional courses of therapy of 25 days each followed by 4-6 weeks of rest. Patients with a complete response (CR) receive 1 additional course of 25 days after achieving CR. Treatment continues in the absence of unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. Patients are followed monthly for 6 months, every 2 months for 6 months, every 3 months for 12 months, and then every 6 months thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 12-35 patients will be accrued for this study within 2 years.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Purpose
TREATMENT
Enrollment
2
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York, United States
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