title: Improved treatment outcome of primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma after introduction of rituximab in Korean patients.
abstract: The addition of rituximab to cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) improved the outcome of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). However, the impact of rituximab (R-CHOP) is still not determined in primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), a subtype of DLBCL, especially in Asian patients. Thus, we analyzed the treatment outcome of PMBCL patients (n = 21) treated with R-CHOP and compared it with the historical group treated with CHOP (n = 14). The rate of complete response for R-CHOP was higher than that of CHOP (17/21, 81.0% vs. 8/14, 57.2%), although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.151). The number of patients with disease progression or relapse was higher in the CHOP group (6/14, 42.9%) than the R-CHOP group (2/21, 9.5%). Thus, patients treated with R-CHOP had higher 2-year progression-free survival (79.0%) than those treated with CHOP (50.0%, P = 0.043). Although the 2-year overall survival of the R-CHOP was also superior to that of the CHOP group (82.7% vs. 57.1%), this survival benefit did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.081). In conclusion, our comparison suggests that R-CHOP may increase response and reduce relapse resulting in prolongation of progression-free survival of patients with PMBCL.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Seok Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Jun Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Jung-Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Woong
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Kihyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Hyeh
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Won Seog
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011379:Prognosis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000069283:Rituximab; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000069283:Rituximab; D014750:Vincristine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone