[Effectiveness of prolonged oral therapy with low-dose etoposide in patients aged 85 years and over with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].
Individualizing the doses of cancer chemotherapy agents and progress in supportive therapy have improved the prognosis for elderly patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Prolonged hospitalization elderly patients has adverse effects, which include dementia, difficulty in walking, and depression. We treated 10 elderly patients (> or = 85 years) with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as outpatients with oral etoposide, 25 mg or 50 mg daily for as long as possible, or until the white blood cell count decreased to < or = 2,000/microliter or the platelet count decreased to < or = 5 x 10(4)/microliter. Complete remission was achieved in 4 patients and partial remission in 4; the median duration of survival was 19 months. Adverse effects included leukopenia in 1 patient (< or = 1,000 cells/microliter), thrombocytopenia in 1 patient (< or = 5 x 10(4) cells/microliter), and anorexia in 1 patient. These results indicate that prolonged oral administration of low-dose etoposide is effective and safe for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in elderly patients. This outpatient chemotherapy caused no serious adverse reactions.
Niitsu
N
N
First Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University School of Medicine.
Nakayama
M
M
Umeda
M
M
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D005047:Etoposide