PILOT-STUDY AND RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF MITOXANTRONE AND IFOSFAMIDE FOR RELAPSED NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA

This report compares a pilot study followed by a trial of the combinat ion of mitozantrone and ifosfamide for relapsed lymphoma. In the pilot study (15 patients) toxicity and activity of the combination was test ed on a variety of relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the trial (19 p atients) the therapy was confined to patients with high and intermedia te grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in which the combination was compared against single agent mitozantrone. The median survival of patients on the pilot and trial was very poor at around six months, but some indiv iduals survived for several years from both groups. The main toxicitie s of treatment were, predictably, nausea and vomiting and bone marrow suppression on the combination, and bone marrow suppression alone on t he single agent mitozantrone. There was no obvious disadvantage of the single agent treatment when compared with the combination, but this s tatement has to be interpreted with caution given the high death rate amongst all patients and the very small numbers who entered the random ised trial.