Primary central nervous system non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (PCNSL): survival advantages with combined initial therapy? A final report of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Study 86-72-52.

Purpose: We herein report updated survival and toxicity data on the entire cohort of 53 eligible patients treated on North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) protocol 86-72-52, which is now closed.
Methods and Materials: An initial report was published in this journal in 1995. No substantive changes in the conclusions of that report were identified in this analysis. Median survival was 9.6 months for the entire cohort; median survival for the 20 patients who completed the prescribed protocol treatment was 20.7 months. The hematologic and non-hematologic toxicity distributions are virtually the same as those reported in the original paper.
Results: Results are given for the entire group and for subsets defined by age < or = 60 versus > 60 years, and < 70 versus > or = 70 years of age.
Conclusions: No significant differences were observed in any of the outcome variables by age group. There was, however, a nonsignificant suggestion of poorer outcome in those who were > 60 years of age.