Long-term outcome of localized high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with high dose CHOP regimen and involved field radiotherapy: results of a GOELAMS study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Most patients with localized high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) can be cured with or without adjuvant radiotherapy. However few data are available on the long-term outcome of these patients. Here we report the results of a prospective study, started in 1984, which was conducted to evaluate the long-term outcome of patients with localized high-grade NHL. DESIGN AND METHODS: In this multicenter, prospective study by the GOELAMS group, 253 patients with localized high-grade NHL were treated with 3 cycles of vindesine, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and prednisone (VCAP, a high-dose CHOP regimen) followed by involved field radiotherapy (40 Gy). RESULTS: After completion of chemotherapy, 213 patients (84%) entered complete remission (CR) and 30 (12%) obtained a partial remission. Treatment failed in 6 patients (2.5%) and there were 4 toxic deaths (1.5%). Following radiotherapy, 239 (94%) of all patients were in CR. With a median follow-up of 88 months, overall survival and disease-free survival rates were 84% and 85% respectively at five years, and 78% and 82% respectively at ten years. The response to chemotherapy was decisive to survival. We observed 43 relapses (17%) at a median time of 20 months after CR, and 9 patients relapsed after five years. Eleven patients (3%) developed another malignancy in the follow-up period. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: High-dose CHOP followed by locoregional radiotherapy is a feasible treatment for localized high-grade NHL. It has very few complications, a good CR rate and the OS is 78% at 10 years.

Treatment of patients with advanced or bulky Hodgkin disease with a 12-week doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine-like chemotherapy regimen followed by extended-field, full-dose radiotherapy: long-term results of the Groupe Ouest et Est des Leucémies et Autres Maladies de Sang H90-A/B Multicenter Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: This Phase II study was performed in patients with advanced or bulky Hodgkin disease (HD) to evaluate the results of a 7-drug chemotherapy (CT) regimen that was administered over 12 weeks according to 2 randomized modalities followed by high-dose lymph node irradiation. METHODS: From 1990 to 1996, 162 patients with HD at clinical stages (CS) I-III with bulky disease (mediastinal mass ratio >or= 0.45 and/or unilateral or bilateral pelvic plus lumboaortic disease; 86 patients) or CS IV (76 patients) were randomized to receive the same cumulated dose of a CT regimen consisting of epirubicin (240 mg/m(2)), bleomycin (60 mg/m(2)), vinblastine (20 mg/m(2)), vincristine (4 mg/m(2)), cyclophosphamide (4000 mg/m(2)), etoposide (900 mg/m(2)), and methotrexate (180 mg/m(2)) plus methylprednisolone (1500 mg/m(2)) over 12 weeks either every 4 weeks (Arm Y, 79 patients) or every 3 weeks (Arm Z, 83 patients). Patients with disease in complete remission (CR) or partial remission after CT received extended-field lymph node irradiation (involved areas, 40 grays [Gy]; noninvolved areas, 30 Gy). RESULTS: Forty-two percent of patients achieved a post-CT CR, and 86% of patients achieved a CR after the completion of irradiation (there was no difference between Arm Y and Arm Z). Thirty-five patients developed recurrent disease; most of those patients were in post-CT partial remission. The 10-year freedom from first progression rate was 63.9% (there was no difference between Arm Y and Arm Z). Thirty-eight patients died: 24 patients from HD, 3 patients from CT-related early sepsis, 1 patient from radiation-induced pneumonitis, 6 patients from a second malignancy, and 4 patients from causes unrelated to treatment. The overall 10-year survival rate was 76.7%. Survival was slightly higher among patients in Arm Y (83.3%) compared with patients in Arm Z (70.2%; P = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: No differences were found when the same amount of CT was delivered in three courses or in four courses. In 1997, because most recurrences of the H90-A/B trial occurred in patients who achieved a post-CT partial remission, the authors decided to reinforce the intensity of the initial CT and designed a new randomized study comparing two modalities of more intensive CT plus consolidative radiotherapy (H97-LM trial).