[Adjuvant chemotherapy for localized non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with CVP therapy]

Fifty-two patients with localized (stage I-II) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated with a combination of vincristine, cyclophosphamide and prednisolone (VCP) as an adjuvant therapy between 1975 and 181. Forty-two patients had extended-field radiotherapy, and ten patients had only surgical excision (6 gastrointestinal tract, 2 breast, one each of skin and axillary lymph node). Clinical stages of these patients were divided into stage I (21 patients) and stage II (31 patients). With a median follow-up time of relapse-free survival (RFS) were calculated by Kaplan and Meier method. At two years after the initiation of chemotherapy, survival and RFS were 95% and 83% for stage I, and 76% and 74% for stage II, respectively. These ratios remained stable for 7 years. Survival and RFS of diffuse histiocytic lymphoma (34 patients) were 90% and 83% at 7 years, while these of diffuse poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma (18 patients) were 75% and 69% at 4 years. Of 52 patients, 10 had relapsed (Stage I: 3 patients and stage II: 7 patients) within the first 2 years. Side effect was minimal with moderate peripheral neuropathy due to vincristine. The result suggests that adjuvant chemotherapy is necessary to improve prognosis of patients with localized non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.