Residual abdominal masses in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after combination chemotherapy: Significance and management

Abstract

When patients with aggressive lymphoma present with intraabdominal disease, a stable residual mass is frequently detected radiographically at the time of the clinical complete remission. To discern the optimal management for this clinical problem, we reviewed 241 patients with aggressive lymphoma treated at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 1977 to 1986. Seventy-two/241 patients (30%) had an abdominal mass at diagnosis and 29/72 (40%) were left with a radiographically detectable residual mass at clinical complete remission. The likelihood of a residual mass was much higher for patients with bulky disease (P 2