Eighteen patients with high-grade malignant lymphoma were treated with ifosfamide-VP16213 combinations after failing to respond completely or after relapsing on CHOP-like therapy. Responders to the salvage therapy were subsequently treated with ablative chemotherapy (BCNU, VP-16213, Ara-C and melfalan) and autografted. Of these 18 patients six were in relapse, six were partial responders and six failed CHOP-like therapy. There were two complete remissions and seven partial responses to the ifosfamide-VP-16213 combinations. Of them, eight patients were transplanted, together with one non-responder. Four of these nine patients were disease-free survivors 18-34 months after autografting. There were two early deaths: one before and one during the autografting procedure. Using one of the best salvage therapy combinations followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autografting is feasible. The results in this pilot study suggest that an appreciable number of patients may be cured by this procedure.