[Clinical comparison of CHO regimen versus CHOP regimen for treatment of patients with intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The side effects of glucocorticoid, for example inducing or sharpening diabetes, should be considered in treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) accompanied by diabetes mellitus with CHOP regimen[Adriamycin(doxorubicin)+cyclophosphamide+Oncovin(Vincristine)+prednisone]. The study was performed to compare the efficacy and toxicity of CHO (without prednisone) and standard CHOP regimen. METHODS: From June 1991 to May 1999, 53 patients with histologically and immunohistochemically proven of intermediate-grade NHL accompanied by diabetes mellitus were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients received CHO regimen and thirty-one received CHOP regimen. Patients in both groups were well- matched with baseline disease characteristics (P >0.05). In CHO group,the response rate was 81.8%;whereas in CHOP group,the response rate was 90.4%. The median survival of CHO group and CHOP group were 31 months and 33 months,respectively. The three-year survival rate and three-year disease- free survival rate in CHO group were 44.1% and 31.2% respectively versus 47.3% and 33.8% in CHOP group. For the side effects, there were differences between two groups except nausea and vomiting which were obvious in CHO group (P=0.015). CONCLUSION: CHO regimen may be selected in treatment of intermediate-grade NHL accompanied by diabetes mellitus. The efficacy and the toxicity of CHO regimen is similar to standard CHOP regimen. Whether it is true should be confirmed by well-controlled randomized clinical trials with more patients.