Treatment of diffuse histiocytic and diffuse mixed non-hodgkin lymphomas with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (chop)

During 1977 to 1985 90 patients with large-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (diffuse histiocytic or diffuse mixed according to Rappaport classification) were treated by the CHOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) with a mean follow-up of 41 months. Thirty-four patients were treated with radiation therapy as well. The mean number of CHOP cycles to achieve complete response was 4.0 and the mean total number of cycles was 6.6. For 78 patients it was possible to calculate relative dose intensity (RDI) for each drug and the average RDI. Sixty-four patients (71% achieved CR. The actuarial 5-year survival rate of all patients was 52% The median RDI for cyclophosphamide was 0.72, for doxorubicin 0.70, for vincristine 0.69 and the median average RDI was 0.69. The following favorable prognostic factors were found to be of statistical significance: female sex and stages I-III as compared to stage IV. The 5-year survival rate for stage I and II patients treated by CHOP plus radiotherapy was 70% as compared to 55% for those treated by CHOP only; this difference was not statistically significant.