[Adriamycin-based combination chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced malignant lymphoma. A progress report]

Forty-six previously untreated patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease (3 cases) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Intermediate grade of the Working Formulation) were treated with Adriamycin-based combination chemotherapy at Saitama Cancer Center between January 1977 and December 1982. The median age was 55 years (range, 18-74 years), with 10 patients (22%) 66 years of age or older. The overall complete response rate was 23 of 46 or 50%. The complete response rate of stage III (62.5%) was superior to that (36.4%) of stage IV, but there was no statistical difference between stage III and IV. The complete response in patients with extranodal lymphoma including Waldeyer's ring primary was 9 of 16 (56.2%), while 11 of 27 patients (40.7%) with nodal lymphoma had complete responses. The median survival for all patients was 26 months. The survival curve of complete responders became flat at 41 months and was well sustained with an actuarial survival of 79%. The survival at 5 years was 60% in patients who had stage III and 26% in patients who had stage IV (p greater than 0.05). Congestive heart failure resulting in death occurred in one case given 315mg /m2 of adriamycin and then 90 mg/m2 of mitoxantrone.