Marginal zone B cell lymphoma of the parotid glands: results of a randomised trial comparing radiotherapy to combined therapy.

39 patients with marginal zone B cell lymphoma (MZBCL) of the parotid glands (stages I or II) were studied. They were randomized to be treated with either radiotherapy alone (extended fields, 4500 cGy) or radiotherapy (the same schedule) plus adjuvant chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone). The end points were survival and time to treatment failure (TTF). Patients who received radiotherapy alone had a complete remission rate of 100%, the TTF was 90% at 5 years and overall survival at 5 years was 90% with no statistical difference when compared with patients who received combined therapy [100, 80 and 95%, respectively (P = 0.5)]. Although adjuvant chemotherapy was well tolerated, the use of this therapeutic approach in patients with early stage MZBCL did not offer any advantage over radiotherapy alone as the initial treatment. Until now, radiotherapy was considered the treatment of choice in this clinical setting of patients.