Evaluation and Role of Single Chemotherapeutic Agents in Adult Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

The non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas are uniquely responsive to a broad range of chemotherapeutic agents of diverse chemical structure and mechanism of action. In the past decade, significant advances in histological diagnosis [86] and staging [20] have occurred documenting the importance of histology, nodal architecture, and stage upon intrinsic prognosis. Parallel to this, aggressive combination therapy has evolved and improved the prognosis in several subtypes, notably diffuse histiocytic and nodular mixed lymphocytic histiocytic lymphomas [15, 1]. In spite of these therapeutic advances, the majority of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma relapse and ultimately die. The purpose of this review is to reexamine the role of old and new drugs. Combination programs will be mentioned in an illustrative fashion; however, the emphasis will be on single agent activity and its relevance for future investigations.