Combination chemotherapy for advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of unfavourable histology

Thirty previously untreated adults with diffuse histiocytic and diffuse undifferentiated lymphoma were treated with a combination of adriamycin, vincristine, prednisolone, and l-asparaginase. Complete remission was achieved in 11 out of 12 cases with stage III and 7 out of 18 cases with stage IV disease (P<0.005). Bone marrow infiltration, clinical central nervous system involvement, and massive intra-abdominal disease all influenced the prognosis adversely. Complete remission was followed by cranial irradiation and intrathecal methotrexate, and maintained with weekly cyclophosphamide and methotrexate and daily 6-mercaptopurine. The duration of remission was significantly longer for patients with stage III disease (the median of which has not been reached), than for patients with stage IV disease (P=0.007). Survival was significantly longer for patients in whom complete remission was achieved than for those in whom it was not (P=0.001), and also for patients with stage III than for those with stage IV disease (P=0.02).