title: Central nervous system involvement in adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: Influence of rituximab.
abstract: CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone)-like chemotherapy, in combination with rituximab (R-CHOP-like), improves outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We aimed to investigate the impact of rituximab on central nervous system (CNS) disease in adult patients. We studied 315 patients (aged 18-60 years old) from six hospitals between July 2003 and May 2008. All patients received CHOP-like (n=165) or R-CHOP-like (n=150) regimen every 3 weeks. With a median follow-up of 3.69 years, 10 patients (3.17%) developed CNS disease. The cumulative risk of CNS occurrence was not significantly different between the two treatment groups (P=0.871). We conclude that the addition of rituximab did not reduce the risk of CNS disease in adult patients with DLBCL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Junning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Qunling
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xianghua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Junmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fangyuan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shanhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Xiaonan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hong