title: Salvage therapy with mitoxantrone, etoposide, bleomycin and dexamethasone for refractory or relapsed aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with a poor performance status or comorbidity.
abstract: The treatment of refractory or relapsed aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in patients in a state of poor health is difficult due to their ineligibility to receive intensive salvage chemotherapy. In the present study, 16 refractory or relapsed aggressive NHL patients with a poor performance status or comorbidities were treated with mitoxantrone, etoposide, bleomycin and dexamethasone (MEBD) therapy. The treatment consisted of 10 mg/m2intravenous (IV) mitoxantrone on day 1, 75 mg/m2IV etoposide on days 1-3, 20 mg IV dexamethasone on days 1-4 and 15 mg intramuscular bleomycin on days 1, 4, 8 and 12, every 21 days. The efficacy and toxicity of the regimen were evaluated. The overall response rate was 68.8%, with a complete response rate of 18.8% and a partial response rate of 50.0%. The efficacy of the treatment for B-cell lymphoma was greater than that for T-cell lymphoma. The median progression-free survival time for the patients was 16.7 months and the median overall survival time was 22.4 months. The one-year overall survival rate was 62.5% and the two-year overall survival rate was 43.8%. The most common toxicity symptom was myelosuppression. In conclusion, refractory or relapsed aggressive NHL patients with a poor performance status or comorbidity are eligible for chemotherapy. MEBD therapy is an effective and feasible salvage regimen for NHL patients in a state of poor health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350005, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xuede
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350005, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350005, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wucha
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350005, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350005, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: comorbidity; mitoxantrone; non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; poor performance status; salvage therapy