Klin Onkol 1998; 11(6): 183-191.
Summary: Follicular lymphomas comprise the predominant type of non-Hodkgins lymphomas. Therapy is based on the stage of disease and consists of involved or extended field irradiation in stages I and II. Patients with advanced stages III and IV may initially remain untreated and be watched until the occurrence of disease-related symptoms (B-symptoms, haematopoietic insufficiency, lymphoma progession, bulky disease). Upon occurence of these signs, a chemotherapy of mild or moderate intensity should be initiated. The maitenance therapy leads to prolongation of remission. A positive impact of interferon-maintenance therapy on overall survival was reportedonly in one study with unlimited application of interferon alpha admi-nistred until relapse. Purine analogues can be used for relapsing patients resistent to previous chemotherapy with a 30-50 % response rate. Myeloablative chemotherapy with autologous transplantation of blood progenitor cell prolongs remission. The influence of high-dose chemotherapy on overall survival is not known. New perspectives arise from the use of allogeneic stem cell tranpslantation and antibody-based immunological therapies.
