Chemotherapy in patients who fail radiotherapy for diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Twenty patients with diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated primarily with radiotherapy for localized disease and had subsequent disease progression. All 20 patients then received an adriamycin based, combination chemotherapy regimen, but only seven patients (35%) achieved a complete remission, and only four patients (20%) currently remain in remission. When 15 patients treated with the CHOP regimen were compared to 62 patients treated with CHOP during the same time period but who did not have preceding radiotherapy, patients with previous radiotherapy had a lower complete remission rate (i.e. 66% versus 33%) and a slightly lower 5-year survival rate (i.e. 41% versus 20%). Thus, unlike patients with Hodgkin's disease, patients with diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas who fail radiotherapy for localized disease might not have an especially good outlook with subsequent chemotherapy.