Table 1.
Characteristics of the 370 Patients Who Were Eligible for Randomization at Diagnosis.*
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Age — yr | |
| Median | 51 |
| Range | 18.3–65.9 |
| Male sex — no. (%) | 218 (59) |
| B-cell lymphoma — no. (%)† | 330 (89) |
| Diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified | 248 (67) |
| Primary mediastinal large-B-cell lymphoma | 28 (8) |
| Unclassifiable, with features intermediate between diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt's lymphoma | 28 (8) |
| Follicular lymphoma, grade 3 | 16 (4) |
| Burkitt's lymphoma | 5 (1) |
| Other | 5 (1) |
| T-cell lymphoma — no. (%)† | 40 (11) |
| Peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified | 20 (5) |
| Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma‡ | 13 (4) |
| Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma | 7 (2) |
| Disease stage — no. (%) | |
| II, with bulky disease | 22 (6) |
| III | 116 (31) |
| IV | 232 (63) |
| Performance status ≥2 — no. (%)§ | 134 (36) |
| Elevated lactate dehydrogenase level — no. (%) | 310 (84) |
| Bone marrow involvement — no. (%) | 83 (22) |
| Extranodal sites — no. (%) | |
| 0 | 126 (34) |
| 1 | 149 (40) |
| ≥2 | 95 (26) |
| B symptoms present — no. (%) | 229 (62) |
| International Prognostic Index risk category: high risk — no. (%) | 118 (32) |
| B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP — no./total no.(%) | 156/330 (47) |
R-CHOP denotes rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone.
The diagnosis was made on the basis of the World Health Organization classification.17
Patients who were positive or negative for anaplastic lymphoma kinase are included in this category.
Performance status was assessed according to the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale, in which 0 indicates that the patient has no symptoms; 1, the patient has symptoms but is ambulatory; 2, the patient is bedridden less than half the day; 3, the patient is bedridden half the day or longer; and 4, the patient is chronically bedridden and requires assistance with activities of daily living.2