Patte 1991.

Methods	Randomised, parallel group, multicentre trial (Europe). ITT: stated that all were included in the analysis. Withdrawals: stated.
Participants	Baseline characteristics: 216 eligible (166 randomised; long duration: 84; short duration: 82). Age range: 6 months to 17 years. Tumour staging: Murphy. Diagnosis: histology, cytology or immunotyping. Entry criteria: Age <17 years, diagnosis of BL, stages III and IV disease. Exclusion criteria: CNS involvement. After 1986, only those with abdominal or head‐neck primary tumours were included.
Interventions	The interventions differed mainly by the duration d the number of drugs given at each stage of treatment; a 5‐week short course compared with a long (16‐week) course with additional drugs maintenance chemotherapy. Follow‐up: 18 months.
Outcomes	Remission. Relapse. Toxicity. Overall survival. Event‐free survival.
Notes	Full text publication. Equivalence trial. Study type: remission induction.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Central, balanced block randomisation.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Implied from the description of randomisation from a central office.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not described.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	All outcomes were reported.