CVP—Remission—maintenance in stage I or II non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas Preliminary results of a randomized study

The effect of adjuvant combination chemotherapy when given to nonlaparotomized patients in remission after radiotherapy in stage I or II non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma was studied in a prospective randomized multicenter study. Locally extended field radiotherapy was given to a target absorbed dose of 40 Gy in 20 fractions. Fifty‐five patients who were in complete remission 6 weeks after conclusion of radiotherapy were randomized to either no further therapy or to 9 cycles of CVP (cyclophosphamide +vincristine +prednisolone). The relapse‐free survival at 30 months was 41% for patients without and 86% for patients with adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.02). The survival was the same for both treatment arms, being 90% at 30 months. Fifteen patients have relapsed, 14 of them with extensions and 1 with a recurrence within the radiation target volume. Analysis of subgroups showed that adjuvant chemotherapy in the present series significantly prolonged the relapse‐free survival in diffuse histiocytic lymphoma.