Non-Hodgkin's
lymphomas [NHL] are commonly treated with
cyclophosphamide,
doxorubicin,
vincristine and
prednisolone [CHOP]. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the
efficacy and
safety of
gemcitabine,
oxaliplatin and
corticosteroids [GEMOX-P] as first-line
treatment for
patients with intermediate-high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL]. Thirty-three
patients with intermediate/high grade NHL were randomized into two groups. First group received standard [CHOP] with
prednisolone tablets 40 mg/m2/day for five days. The second group received
gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 D1, 8, then
oxaliplatin 80 mg/m2 D1 and
prednisolone tablets 40 mg/m2/day for five days with
recycling every 21 days. The primary end point was response rate. The
secondary end points were
disease-free survival and overall
survival. From the results of this study, it was concluded that the regimen of [GEMOX-P] had beneficial effects over [CHOP] regimen, that included higher complete response rate in high-
risk cases and lower cardiac and hepatic
toxicity, but there was no difference after 18 months in
disease free or overall
survival between both
treatment arms. Selection of cases that may benefit from
chemotherapy treatment either [CHOP] or [GEMOX-P] is needed balance between anticipated toxicities,
treatment outcome and
cost benefit aspect