F-MACHOP in advanced aggressive lymphoma

The results of our ten years experience indicate that F-MACHOP, conceptually designed to exploit cell kinetic and synergistic principles, is an effective regimen with acceptable toxicity in a large proportion of adults with advanced stages of diffuse large cell or small non-cleaved cell lymphoma. More than 60% of all treated patients all expected to achieve long-term EFS. Patients achieving CR within 3 courses have a very high chance of being cured of their disease and do not require, in our opinion, intensification with other regimens. On the other hand the identification of a group of patients with poorer outcome (i.e. those failing to achieve an early CR) enabled testing of the potential efficacy of superintensive salvage regimens. Together with other 6 Italian hematologic institutions, we have recently participated in a prospective comparative randomized trial in which F-MACHOP was compared to MACOP-B in adults with advanced stages of diffuse large cell or small non-cleaved cell lymphoma. The preliminary results of this trial appear to confirm that F-MACHOP is an effective and tolerable regimen in such patients and there is a suggestion that its efficacy is superior to that of MACOP-B. This trial was closed to accrual in September 1991 and we look forward to the first complete analysis in March 1992.