Chemotherapy Alone Compared with Chemotherapy plus Radiotherapy for Localized Intermediate- and High-Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Patients with intermediate- or high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can be cured with doxorubicin-containing combination chemotherapy. 1 The cure rate varies according to several pretreatment prognostic variables, including the stage of disease. 2 Chemotherapy cures most patients with localized disease (stage I or II), but only about 30 to 40 percent of patients with advanced disease (stage III or IV). 1 , 3 Two strategies for treating localized intermediate- and high-grade histologic subtypes of lymphoma have emerged in the past 15 years: chemotherapy alone with a doxorubicin-containing combination regimen such as cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP), administered for six to eight cycles, or a short . . .