[Treatment of intermediate and high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]

Since the study by SWOG in 1993, CHOP regimen has been the standard therapy for patients with advanced stage intermediate-grade or high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Three-year estimated survival for all patients was about 50%. However, five-year disease free survival of the patients with high or high-intermediate risk by age-adjusted international prognostic index(IPI) is less than 30%. For the patients with low and low-intermediate IPI, high cure rate can be achieved by CHOP, or modified CHOP therapy. For the patients in high or high-intermediate risk groups, the CHOP regimen is not satisfactory. High-dose chemotherapy with haematopoietic stem cell rescue has been tried for those patients. We are conducting pilot study of high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell transplant(PBSCT) following induction with double CHOP regimen. Although the results are encouraging, confirmation with randomized prospective trials are necessary.