[Aclarubicin-combined combination chemotherapy in patients with refractory or relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]

Patients with lymphoma who became refractory or resistant to standard chemotherapy including anthracyclines were treated with aclarubicin-combined chemotherapy including VP-16, ifosfamide, and carboquone in a multicenter study. Twenty-one patients were entered in this study, and 18 of them were evaluable. The median age was 52 years old (range 27-74), and there were 17 male and 3 female patients. The vast majority of patients were diagnosed as having diffuse lymphoma, of which 10 cases had large cell type. Surface markers were measured in 8 patients, of whom 4 had T-cell lymphoma. Remission was attained in 3 of 18 patients (17%) with one complete and lasting remission with T-cell lymphoma. In conclusion, the response rate in this study was poor, but this type of combination chemotherapy might be considered in patients with T-cell lymphoma.