Ma. Rosenthal et al., PRIMARY CEREBRAL LYMPHOMA - AN ARGUMENT FOR THE USE OF ADJUNCTIVE SYSTEMIC CHEMOTHERAPY, Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery, 63(1), 1993, pp. 30-32
Eleven patients with primary cerebral lymphoma were treated at a singl
e institution over a 5 year period. Patient characteristics were typic
al of this rare disease. One patient died prior to receiving treatment
and of the remaining 10, all received cranial irradiation and in addi
tion, five received systemic cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine
and prednisolone (CHOP) chemotherapy. Of the six patients who are ali
ve and disease-free, five received the combined modality therapy. The
median survival for those patients receiving cranial irradiation alone
was 18 months and for the combined modalities was 25+ months. Combina
tion systemic chemotherapy, in addition to cerebral irradiation, may c
onvey a survival benefit in patients with primary cerebral lymphoma bu
t this requires further investigation with multicentre, prospective ra
ndomized trials.