Comparative Toxic and Therapeutic Effects of Adriamycin and Bleomycin in Malignant Lymphoma

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Abstract
The toxic and therapeutic results obtained during phase I and phase II evaluation of adriamycin (ADM) and bleomycin (BLM) in 92 adequately treated cases with malignant lymphomas are reviewed. The number of pretreated patients as well as the different histologic expression of lymphoma are given together with the incidence of toxic manifestations (table 3, text-fig. 1). Stomatitis and alopecia are caused by both drugs and show about the same incidence as first sign of toxicity. Interstitial pulmonary lesions produced by BLM were observed in a fairly large percentage of cases and represent at the dosage used a limiting factor to prolonged administration. The therapeutic response has been evaluated on the Karnofsky's scale. With ADM category I response occurred in 72.2% of cases and with BLM in 50% (table 5, 6). Complete remissions for more than 1 year occurred in 3 patients treated with ADM and 1 with BLM. With both drugs all types of lesions responded, including bone marrow invasion. In responsive patients remissions occurred promptly (average 13.7 days with ADM and 10.3 days with BLM) (table 4). Because of their toxic and therapeutic properties, both drugs appear suitable for therapeutic trials in combination with conventional agents.