Inpharma 1165 - 28 Nov 1998

VB-CHEP regimen may havepotential in aggressive NHL

An antineoplastic regimen comprising vincristine,bleomycin, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin[adriamycin], etoposide and prednisolone (VB-CHEP)appears to be effective in the treatment of patients withaggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), reportresearchers from Turkey.

In this study, 29 patients with newly diagnosed,intermediate- or high-grade NHL received 6 cycles ofVB-CHEP administered at 3-weekly intervals.* Patientswere restaged at the end of therapy and 8 patients whohad high-grade, stage IV or bulky disease received 3cycles of consolidation therapy administered at4-weekly intervals.** Five patients also received regionalradiotherapy.

83% response rate21/29 patients (72.4%) achieved a complete response

and 3/29 patients (10.3%) achieved a partial response.Overall, the median duration of response was greaterthan 29 months.

After a median duration of follow-up of over 34months, 12 patients had died and 17 were alive anddisease-free. Overall, the median duration of survivalwas greater than 48 months. The 1- and 2-year survivalrates were 69 and 66%, respectively.

The researchers note that the toxicity profile of theVB-CHEP regimen ‘is comparable to new generationprotocols’.* VB-CHEP comprised IV vincristine 1 mg/day on days 1 and 2, IVbleomycin 20 mg/m2/day on day 3, IV cyclophosphamide 1000mg/m2/day on day 8, IV doxorubicin 50 mg/m2/day on day 8, IVetoposide 75 mg/m2/day on days 8–10 and oral prednisolone 50mg/m2/day on days 8–14.** Consolidation therapy comprised IV cytarabine 100 mg/m2/day ondays 1–7 and IV cisplatin 33 mg/m2/day on days 1–3.

Yalcin, et al. VB-CHEP chemotherapy regimen for aggressive non-Hodgkin’slymphomas. European Journal of Haematology 61: 261-265, Oct 1998 800719059

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Inpharma 28 Nov 1998 No. 11651173-8324/10/1165-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved