The DEP regimen is superior to the HLH-1994 regimen as first-line therapy for lymphoma-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Lymphoma-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (LA-HLH) has a poor prognosis. Currently, there is no unified, effective first-line treatment regimen for it. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 50 patients who received the DEP regimen and 30 patients who received the HLH-1994 regimen. After 2 weeks of treatment, the ORR of the DEP group was higher than that of the HLH-1994 group (p = 0.024). After 4 weeks, the CR and ORR of the DEP group were higher than those of the HLH-1994 group (p < 0.05). The recurrence rate of the HLH-1994 group within 4 weeks (20.0%) was higher than that of the DEP group (2.1%) (p < 0.05). The median survival of patients with NK/T and T-cell lymphoma in the DEP group (10.1 months) was longer than the median survival of the HLH-1994 group (2.6 months) (p = 0.017). Our study suggests that the DEP regimen can improve Week 2 and Week 4 ORR, Week 4 CR, and reduce Week 4 recurrence rate for LA-HLH more than the HLH-1994 regimen.