Unterhalt 1996.

Methods	RCT Location: Europe, multicenter, GLGLSG study Years: 1989 to 1995 Follow‐up: NR Pharmaceutical sponsorship: NR Classification system: Kiel/REAL Central pathology: yes
Participants	Number of patients randomized: 442 Number of patients analyzed: 246 Numbers of patients with FL: 200 Lymphoma: advanced‐stage FL grade 1‐2 and MCL Line of treatment: first Patients: median (range) age 54 years (28 to 77 years), 67% had bone marrow involvement
Interventions	Different: PmM x 4‐6 cycles versus CVP x 4‐6 cycles
Outcomes	Response rate Event‐free interval measured from response to the recurrence of lymphoma or death Toxicity
Notes	Published: journal article Triple publication: Hiddemann 1994; Hiddemann 1998
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Quote: "eligible patients underwent a central randomization procedure" Comment: assumed proper sequence generation, since done by the GLGLSG
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Quote: "eligible patients underwent a central randomization procedure" Comment: assumed proper allocation concealment, since done by the GLGLSG
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Open study
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	Out of 344 randomized FL patients, only 200 were fully evaluable for central pathology, 33 of whom withdrew early from study (reasons stated in study), leaving only 167 FL patients for analysis
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Protocol unavailable
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Open study
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Open study; review authors do not believe this will introduce bias