title: Recent National Cancer Institute lymphoma trials of etoposide-containing combination chemotherapy.
abstract: Short-course prednisone/doxorubicin/cyclophospha- mide/etoposide-cytarabine/bleomycin/vincristine/methotrexate (ProMACE-CytaBOM) contains the same drugs as standard ProMACE-CytaBOM but is delivered weekly for 16 weeks rather than 2 weeks out of 3 for 18 weeks. This results in a significant increase in dose intensity, ranging from 27% to 65% for all drugs. A total of 46 patients have been treated with short-course ProMACE-CytaBOM. The overall complete response rate of 91% and relapse rate of 17% compares favorably with results obtained using standard ProMACE-CytaBOM (86% and 27%, respectively). Toxicity was slightly greater with short-course therapy, but in general the regimen was well tolerated. Further dose intensification is possible in eligible patients by dose escalating myelotoxic drugs. A second strategy for augmenting the dose intensity is to deliver the drugs by continuous intravenous infusion. Infusional chemotherapy with doxorubicin/etoposide/vincristine/oral prednisone/bolus cyclophosphamide (EPOCH) results in significant antitumor activity in heavily pretreated patients with chemotherapy-resistant Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Complete responses or partial responses were seen in 91% of 21 evaluable patients.
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014481:United States; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D001761:Bleomycin; D014750:Vincristine; D005047:Etoposide; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone; D008727:Methotrexate