[Epirubicin-based combination chemotherapy in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: with emphasis of elderly patients].

Twenty-four patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma aged 60 years and older were treated with epirubicin-based combination chemotherapy. Complete remission was obtained in nineteen (83%) of 23 patients with measurable disease. Of these complete responders seventeen patients with localized disease attained complete remission. No patients received radiation therapy after chemotherapy. The survival rate was 78% at 50 months in patients with the localized disease. The median follow-up time is 40 months, ranging from 13 to 65 months. All of the localized disease were treated in the out-patient clinic and no patients died of chemotherapy-related infectious complications. No severe infection such as either bacteremia or pneumonia occurred. It was concluded that epirubicin-based combination chemotherapy was highly effective in patients with localized non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.