Patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are known to have a malignancy considered curable in many cases. However, diagnosis of refractory or relapsed disease is devastating and the treatment is difficult because regimens of chemotherapy used as salvage therapy are available only in limited numbers. ESHAP, consisting of etoposide, methylprednisolone, high-dose cytarabine and cisplatin, is one of commonly used salvage regimen, and showed its efficacy and feasibility. But it often requires discontinuation of the treatment due to its myelosuppression, neuropathy and renal toxicity, which can also impede further treatment. Oxaliplatin, a platinum coordination complex with an oxalato-ligand as the leaving group and a 1,2-diaminocyclohexane carrier, possesses higher cytotoxic potency on molar basis than cisplatin and carboplatin, and was reported to be active in patients with NHL as a single agent. In addition, the substitution of cisplatin by oxaliplatin in the DHAP regimen, another commonly used one in relapsed or refractory NHL, showed meaningful anti-tumor activity with favorable toxicity profile. Based on preclinical and clinical findings, we will conduct a multi-center phase II study of ESHAOX, which substitutes oxaliplatin with cisplatin in the ESHAP regimen, to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity profile in patients with recurrent or refractory NHL.
