RESUMO
This study includes 50 patients with Ann Arbor stage II-IV non-hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL]. Thirty patients [60%] had been treated with CHOP [cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone] and involved field radiotherapy 2500 cGy/2.5 weeks [Group A]. Twenty patients [40%] were treated with chemotherapy [CHOP] only [Group B]. The overall response was 90% in group A and 85% in group B [P > 0.05]. The complete response rate [CR] was relatively higher in group A [53.3%] than in group B [40%] [P > 0.05]. Poor prognostic factors included, advanced age, stage IV, size of tumor > 5 cm, bone marrow infiltration, aggressive histology and high LDH > 250 u/L. Relapse rate was higher in group B than in group A [37% vs, 41%] respectively [p> 0.05]. All patients tolerated their treatment well with slight variation in the incidence and severity of treatment morbidity between both groups. Conclusion, chemoradiation in the stage II - IV NHL is well tolerated and increasing the dose of radiotherapy to 4000 cGy to the involved sites may add to the response rate