The administration of small-dose etoposide for a long period as a maintenance therapy in the patients with non-Hodgikin's lynphoma.

We investigated whether the administration of small-dose etoposide for a long period of time as a post intensive therapy is effective on remission duration and survival of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. After complete remission following CHOP or VEPA therapy, 33 patients were registered and administered etoposide at a daily oral dose of 25mg/body for a long time (median days; 211). Twenty-seven patients who were treated without the maintenance therapy, were used as a historical control.The long-term complete remission ratio at 3 years was 54% for the etoposide group compared with 36% for the control group. Especially in patients over 65 years of age, the remission ratio was 61% for the etoposide group compared with 25% for the control group.The long-term survival ratio at 5 years was 67% for the etoposide group compared with 59% for the control group. The small-dose etoposide as a post intensive therapy seemingly showed a beneficial effect but not statistically significant on the remission duration (P=0.08, Generalized Wilcoxon test) and the survival length (P=0.96, Generalized Wilcoxon test).Side effects and abnormal laboratory findings were minimal in the etoposide group except one patient with leukopenia (grade 4).These preliminary data suggested the usefulness of the small-dose etoposide as a post intensive therapy for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.