[Chronic daily oral low-dose etoposide therapy for an aged patient with aggressive lymphoma: a successful case report].
A 72-year-old female from Fukuoka Prefecture was admitted to our hospital complaining of puffy face and general malaise in April, 1992. Physical examinations revealed generalized lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly complicated with superior vena cava syndrome. A histological diagnosis of diffuse large cell-type malignant lymphoma was made by cervical lymph node biopsy according to the Working Formulation. Immunohistochemical staining showed the lymphoma cells were of T cell lineage (CD43+). Though anti-human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) antibody was positive, southern blot analysis of the cells did not reveal monoclonal integration of HTLV-I proviral DNA. Her liver and renal function were almost normal but there was slight elevation of LDH. Considering her age, oral administration of low-dose etoposide (25 mg/day) was started. In 4 days, her lymph nodes decreased in size with subjective improvements. Ten weeks later, examinations of the hand, ultrasonogram and CT scan showed lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly had disappeared completely. The neutrophil count was consistently above 1,500/microliters, with no remarkable adverse effects and only a moderate degree of alopecia. Thus, low-dose etoposide therapy was considered to be very useful in such a case of malignant lymphoma in the elderly.
Dept. of Internal Medicine, Sumitomo Hospital.
H
H
Sakoda
H
H
Yoshida
M
M
Usami
H
H
Fushimi
N
N
Komaki
M
M
Kameyama
S
S
Fukuhara
M
M
Ohkuma
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012074:Remission Induction; D013479:Superior Vena Cava Syndrome / Q000150:complications
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D005047:Etoposide