Aggressive non Hodgkin lymphoma in the elderly. A retrospective study of 72 patients with clinical features and treatment.

Aggressive non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) occurs frequently in the elderly and because of drug related toxicity treatment remains controversial. Seventy-two patients over 65 years (68-83 y, median 73 y) with intermediate and high grade NHL were retrospectively studied. We found 22 cases of high grade NHL and diffuse large cell the most frequent type encountered (54%). Seven patients had stage I, 8 stage II, 14 stage III, and 43 stage IV disease. Treatment for localized disease was radiotherapy or chlorambucil, and disseminated stage patients were treated by three different chemotherapy regimens, group I: classic dose chemotherapy without Adriamycin (15 pts), group II: same type of regimen with Adriamycin (45 mg/m2) (42 pts), group III: high dose chemotherapy with Adriamycin (75 mg/m2) (8 pts). Overall complete response (CR) rate was 53% without significant differences between treatment groups. Median duration of survival was 38 months and estimated 5 year survival at 40%. Following complete remission, 15 patients (40%) relapsed. Thirty-seven patients have died, 6 from toxic deaths (5 toxic deaths in group II and III), 28 from NHL, and 3 from other diseases. Toxicity was greater among patients treated with Adriamycin. In a multivariate analysis, the attainment of complete remission was the only factor influencing survival. Our data shows that classical dose chemotherapy leads to the same CR rate and survival as more intensive regimens.