Combined radiotherapy-chemotherapy for early stages non-Hodgkin'slymphoma: The 1975–1980 EORTC controlled lymphoma trial

Abstract

Patients with stage I and II non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are considered to have a relatively good prognosis. For this reason, they are seldom referred to specialized centers and the accrual of such patients in controlled studies is limited. Therefore, significant studies of homogeneously treated patients are difficult to collect and the management of these patients remains controversial. Some patients do very well after treatments with minimal toxicity while others require a much more aggressive approach. The Radiotherapy-Chemotherapy Group of the EORTC carried out its second controlled trial on patients with stage I and II NHL from 1975 to 1980. Its first aim was to assess the prognostic value of histologic classifications independently of treatment. The second aim was to compare two therapeutic options within each stage. In stage I, 124 patients were randomized to receive extended field radiotherapy (RT) either with or without adjuvant cyclophosphamide, vincristine prednisone (CVP) chemotherapy (CT). Relapse-free survival (RFS) was higher in patients who received adjuvant CVP but the total survival rates were not different. The RFS was lower in patients with diffuse than in those with follicular architectural histologies; in the former, RFS was not influenced by adjuvant CVP. Those patients who underwent a staging laparotomy had a higher 5-year total survival (TS) independent of the histologic type. Fifty-six stage II patients were included and extended field was randomized versus total nodal irradiation. Subsequently, adjuvant CVP was given to all patients. Results are good in follicular histologies but the advantage for total nodal irradiation is not significant. In diffuse histologies, results were unsatisfactory in both arms; a new therapeutic strategy was designed in which RT and CT are alternated and has been successfully tested in a pilot study.