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CHOP compared with CHOP plus granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's
J K Doorduijn1, B van der Holt, G W van Imhoff
1Department of Hematology, Erasmus Medisch Centrum Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, the Netherlands. j.doorduijn@erasmusmc.nl
Purpose:
To investigate whether the relative dose-intensity of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) chemotherapy could be improved by prophylactic administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).
Patients And Methods:
Patients aged 65 to 90 years (median, 72 years) with stage II to IV aggressive NHL were randomly assigned to receive standard CHOP every 3 weeks or CHOP plus G-CSF every 3 weeks on days 2 to 11 of each cycle.
Results:
In 389 eligible patients, the relative dose intensities (RDIs) of cyclophosphamide (median, 96.3% v 93.9%; P =.01) and doxorubicin (median, 95.4% v 93.3%; P =.04) were higher in patients treated with CHOP plus G-CSF. The complete response rates were 55% and 52% for CHOP and CHOP plus G-CSF, respectively (P =.63). The actuarial overall survival at 5 years was 22% with CHOP alone, compared with 24% with CHOP plus G-CSF (P =.76), with a median follow-up of 33 months. Patients treated with CHOP plus G-CSF had an identical incidence of infections, with World Health Organization grade 3 to 4 (34 of 1,191 cycles v 36 of 1,195 cycles). Only the cumulative days with antibiotics were fewer with CHOP plus G-CSF (median, 0 v 6 days; P =.006) than with CHOP alone. The number of hospital admissions and the number of days in hospital were not different.
Conclusion:
In elderly patients, G-CSF improved the RDI of CHOP, but this did not lead to a higher complete response rate or better overall survival. G-CSF did not prevent serious infections.