Salvage chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with a combination of mitoxantrone, etoposide, cisplatin, and prednisolone.

We tested the combination of mitoxantrone, etoposide, cisplatin, and prednisolone as salvage treatment for patients with advanced aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Among 18 evaluable patients, four complete and seven partial responses were observed, for an overall response rate of 61%. The median duration of response was 36 weeks (range, 11-58). The median survival time from the beginning of the regimen was 52 weeks for responders and 24 weeks for nonresponders. Myelosuppression was the major dose-limiting toxic effect; however, it was generally well-tolerated. These results indicate that the combination regimen can play a role in the treatment of relapsed or resistant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.