Chemoimmunotherapy versus chemotherapy for remission induction in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: progress report of a Southwest Oncology Group study.

The Southwestern Oncology Group is conducting a controlled clinical trial for patients with all types of advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in which chemoimmunotherapy (CHOP + BCG) is being compared with chemotherapy alone (CHOP + bleomycin or COP + bleomycin) for remission induction. Patients achieving a complete remission confirmed by systematic restaging are then randomly assigned to maintenance BCG or to no further therapy. As of April, 1977, 669 patients had been registered on this trial and 420 were fully evaluable. No significant differences in response rates between the three remission induction regimens are apparent. After restaging, early relapses have occurred with equal frequency in the BCG and no-further-therapy groups. Longer follow-up and further analysis will be required to fully evaluate the potential effects of BCG on remission duration or survival in this study.