Osteonecrosis of the femoral head in patients with lymphoma treated with intermittent combination chemotherapy (including corticosteroids)

✍ Scribed by Daniel C. Ihde; Vincent T. Devita

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1975
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 348 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(197511)36:5<1585::aid-cncr2820360508>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Four adult patients with malignant lymphoma were treated with combination chemotherapy including an alkylating agent, vincristine, procarbazine (in all but one case), and intermittent high-dose prednisone. Twenty to 42 months after initiation of therapy, osteonecrosis of the femoral head developed. This was bilateral in two patients and unilateral in two, and presumably represented a complication of steroid administration, even though three of the patients received only 4 to 6 weeks of therapy. Necrosis of bone may be a low-frequency long-term complication of combination chemotherapy in lymphoma.