BACKGROUND:Interferon alfa has been found to be effective as an antitumor agent (with a response rate of 30 percent) in patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but its effectiveness in those with intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has been less adequately tested. In a prospective randomized study we evaluated the effectiveness of adding interferon alfa to cytotoxic chemotherapy in patients with clinically aggressive, low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and certain histologic variants of intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, not including diffuse histiocytic lymphoma. METHODS: The patients were randomly assigned to a regimen of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and doxorubicin or to this regimen combined with recombinant interferon alfa. Treatment was administered every four weeks, for 8 to 10 cycles. RESULTS: The two regimens produced comparable objective responses, but the regimen including interferon had a greater effect in prolonging the time to treatment failure (P < 0.001) and the duration of complete response (P = 0.03). Interferon alfa also had a greater effect on overall survival (P = 0.014) when the results were adjusted for important covariates. CONCLUSIONS:Interferon alfa, when added to a four-drug doxorubicin-based chemotherapy regimen, is an effective antitumor agent in patients with clinically aggressive low-grade or intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Interferon alfa has been found to be effective as an antitumor agent (with a response rate of 30 percent) in patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but its effectiveness in those with intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has been less adequately tested. In a prospective randomized study we evaluated the effectiveness of adding interferon alfa to cytotoxic chemotherapy in patients with clinically aggressive, low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and certain histologic variants of intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, not including diffuse histiocytic lymphoma. METHODS: The patients were randomly assigned to a regimen of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and doxorubicin or to this regimen combined with recombinant interferon alfa. Treatment was administered every four weeks, for 8 to 10 cycles. RESULTS: The two regimens produced comparable objective responses, but the regimen including interferon had a greater effect in prolonging the time to treatment failure (P < 0.001) and the duration of complete response (P = 0.03). Interferon alfa also had a greater effect on overall survival (P = 0.014) when the results were adjusted for important covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Interferon alfa, when added to a four-drug doxorubicin-based chemotherapy regimen, is an effective antitumor agent in patients with clinically aggressive low-grade or intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Authors: Loretta J Nastoupil; Peter McLaughlin; Lei Feng; Sattva S Neelapu; Felipe Samaniego; Fredrick B Hagemeister; Ana Ayala; Jorge E Romaguera; Andre H Goy; Eleanor Neal; Michael Wang; Luis Fayad; Michelle A Fanale; Yasuhiro Oki; Jason R Westin; Maria A Rodriguez; Fernando Cabanillas; Nathan H Fowler Journal: Br J Haematol Date: 2017-03-24 Impact factor: 6.998
Authors: S M Smith; J Johnson; B D Cheson; G Canellos; G Petroni; M Oken; D Duggan; D Hurd; J P Gockerman; B Parker; J Prchal; B A Peterson Journal: Leuk Lymphoma Date: 2009-10