retrospective analysis of CHOP therapy in intermediate and high non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

ABSTRACT

Combination of chemotherapy with CHOP [cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone] for advanced stage-III and IV, intermediate or high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the accepted modality of treatment. Complete remission of 53% with a 32% cure rate has been reported with this treatment. It has been compared with new and more aggressive second and third generation regimens with no difference in complete remission, time to treatment failure and disease free survival. A retrospective analysis on 41 patients who received CHOP in the department for bulky stage II, III and IV disease with intermediate on high grade NHL was performed. Complete remission was seen in 63.3% patients. After a median follow up of 21 months, sustained complete remission of 23% was obtained. Poor prognostic factors included advanced age, stage IV aggressive histology and high LDH. These results are not different from those reported in literature. The patients with more aggressive disease and poor prognostic factors should be entered into clinical trials