A Phase II clinical trial of NK 171 (Etoposide), a semisynthetic podophyllotoxin, was undertaken in 56 patients with advanced malignant lymphoma and 36 patients with acute leukemia. The dosage of NK 171 was 110-130 mg/m2 day p.o. or 80-100 mg/m2 day i.v. for 5 consecutive days. Of the 92 patients, 23.9% obtained a complete or partial remission. By tumor type, good responses were obtained in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (34%, 17/50), Hodgkin's disease (25%, 1/4), AML (21.4%, 3/14), and CML-BC (25%, 1/4). Side effects included leukopenia (78.4%), alopecia (62.0%), anorexia (40.2%), nausea (30.4%) thrombocytopenia (25.6%) and fever (16.3%). These results demonstrated NK 171 to be an effective agent against malignant lymphoma and acute myeloblastic leukemia.