With the intent to improve the cure rate for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a prospective single-arm trial named ABCVEP (I) was initiated in April 1989. ABCVEP (I) was consisted of 6 drugs: adriamycin (ADM); bleomycin (BLM); cyclophosphamide (CPM); vincristine (VCR); and prednisolone (PDN) with or without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to rescue the neutropenia. As of March 1991, 31 patients with intermediate- and high-grade NHL were entered in the trial and all the patients were evaluable with median age of 56 years. Twenty-five out of 31 patients were D. large; 2 were F. large, 2 D. small cleaved; and 2 D. mixed: 9 were in stage II, 6 in stage III and 16 in stage IV. Twenty-five patients achieved complete response and 6 partial response (response rate was 100%). The median follow-up period was 50 months, the actual over all survival rate for the entire group was 59.3%. The relapse-free survival for complete responders was 63.8%. Administration of G-CSF was required for 20 patients. Relative dose intensity (RDI) in patients required G-CSF was maintained at more than 80% of the RDI in patients not requiring G-CSF. Although severe pulmonary toxicity due to bleomycin was found in 4 patients, ABCVEP (I) is a feasible treatment regimen for aggressive NHL.

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