Prognosis of patients with peripheral T cell lymphoma who achieve complete response after CHOP/CHOP-like chemotherapy without autologous stem cell transplantation as an initial treatment

Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (CHOP)/CHOP-like chemotherapy has been mostly applied to patients with untreated peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL). Because the long-term outcome of patients with PTCL, especially those achieving complete response (CR), has not been fully elucidated, we retrospectively analyzed 78 consecutive patients initially treated with CHOP/CHOP-like chemotherapy, without high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC/auto-SCT). Median overall and progression-free survivals in all 78 patients were 44 and 17 months, respectively, with a median follow-up of 62 months. In the 53 patients achieving CR, the median relapse-free survival (RFS) was 21 months, and 2-, 3-, and 5-year RFSs were 46, 45, and 36%, respectively. Although our results showed an unfavorable outcome for PTCL as a whole, those who achieved CR following CHOP/CHOP-like chemotherapy did not always have a poor outcome without the consolidation of HDC/auto-SCT; in particular, 45% of the 65 years or younger patients were alive without disease at 5 years.