COPBLAM III: infusional combination chemotherapy for diffuse large-cell lymphoma

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 6; no. 3; p. 425
• Main Authors: Boyd, D B, Coleman, M, Papish, S W, Topilow, A, Kopel, S K, Bernhardt, B, Files, J C, Schwartz, S, Gaynor, M, McDermott, D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.1988
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Bleomycin - therapeutic use; Cyclophosphamide - therapeutic use; Doxorubicin - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Lung - drug effects; Lymphoma - drug therapy; Lymphoma - mortality; Male; Middle Aged; Prednisone - therapeutic use; Procarbazine - therapeutic use; Vincristine - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 0732-183X
• DOI: 10.1200/JCO.1988.6.3.425

COPBLAM III, a polychemotherapy regimen consisting of cyclophosphamide, infusional vincristine, prednisone, infusional bleomycin, doxorubicin, and procarbazine, was administered to 51 patients with diffuse large-cell lymphoma. Ninety-six percent of patients age 60 or younger achieved a complete response (CR); none have relapsed. Overall, 88% of patients are alive and well and potentially in the survival plateau. For patients greater than 60 years, CR was obtained in 73%, with 42% potentially in the survival plateau, the difference resulting in part from four relapses, three toxic deaths, and one presumed unrelated death. These results in the elderly were paralleled by a relatively reduced ability to tolerate therapy. Toxicity was primarily pulmonary, occurring in 39% of patients, two of whom died. With an overall CR rate of 84%, of which 92% are sustained at a median follow-up of 40 months, COPBLAM III represents a highly effective treatment in a sizeable cohort of patients.