[CHOP-Bleo therapy in high-malignancy non-Hodgkin lymphoma]

The records of 85 patients were reviewed in order to study the efficacy of CHOP-Bleo combination chemotherapy and to determine factors influencing prognosis. The patients were treated between 1978 and 1989, the median age was 44.4 (range, 15-68) years, the majority of them were in advanced clinical stages (92.9%). Systemic (B) symptoms were present in half of the patients and a quarter of them had bulky disease. Complete response was achieved in 36 patients (42.5%), partial response in 26 patients (30.5%), and primary treatment failure occurred in 23 patients (27.0%). The median survival was 92.6 months and 36.5% of the patients remained relapse-free at 10 years. The expected 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 47% and 39%, respectively. Using multivariate analysis B symptoms, involvation of two or more extralymphatic sites and lymphoblastic histologic subtype proved to be unfavourable prognostic factors. The most frequently observed side-effects were myelosuppression, neurotoxicity and gastrointestinal symptoms. No treatment-related death have occurred.