Clinical trials in the non-Hodgkin's lymphomata at Stanford University experimental design and preliminary results.

Preliminary results of controlled clinical trials in 127 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomata are reported. The rationale for identifying 7 study groups is presented. Treatment programmes which are being studied vary from involved field irradiation to the most aggressive treatment tolerable. The early results suggest that patients with both favourable and unfavourable histologies but of limited extent can be controlled with irradiation. Patients with advanced disease but with favourable histological subgroups are doing as well with a conservative drug programme as with 2 aggressive treatment regimens. These controlled studies and those of others, facilitated by the use of the Rappaport classification and laparotomy staging, give promise of clarifying and improving the management of patients with these lymphomata.