Combination chemotherapy for intermediate and high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
1993

Combination Chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Sample size: 110 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): H.S. Dhaliwal, A.Z.S. Rohatiner, W. Gregory, M.A. Richards, P.W.M. Johnson, J.S. Whelan, C.J. Gallagher, J. Matthews, T.S. Ganesan, M.J. Barnett, J.H. Waxman, A.G. Stansfeld, P.F.M. Wrigley, M.L. Slevin, J.S. Malpas, T.A. Lister

Primary Institution: ICRF Department of Medical Oncology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, UK

Hypothesis

Can a combination chemotherapy regimen improve outcomes for patients with intermediate and high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma?

Conclusion

The study found that combination chemotherapy led to a clinical remission in 64% of patients, with significant factors affecting remission duration and survival.

Supporting Evidence

  • Clinical remission was achieved in 70 out of 110 evaluable patients.
  • Complete remission was noted in 45 patients, while 25 achieved good partial remission.
  • Hyponatremia and hypoalbuminaemia correlated adversely with achievement of complete remission.
  • Advanced age was a significant predictor for remission duration.
  • Overall survival was 42% at 8 years.

Takeaway

Doctors used a special mix of medicines to help people with a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and many of them got better.

Methodology

Patients received a combination of Doxorubicin, Cyclophosphamide, Vincristine, Prednisolone, and Methotrexate with leucovorin rescue, along with CNS prophylaxis.

Potential Biases

The study may have included a large proportion of patients with poor prognostic factors, which could affect the results.

Limitations

The study had a treatment-related mortality of 20%, and many patients had poor prognostic factors.

Participant Demographics

{"gender":{"male":71,"female":39},"age":{"median":54,"range":"15-79"}}

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.0007

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

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