 Current multiagent chemotherapeutic regimens for patients with PTCL are extrapolated mainly from therapeutic paradigms of B-cell lymphomas, with the cornerstone treatment being an anthracycline-containing regimen. Although some patients with PTCL can be cured with these approaches, relapsed and chemorefractory disease constitutes a significant clinical dilemma in the care of these patients 7. At present, high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell support seems to offer potential curative treatment for those patients with relapsed PTCL who are responsive to salvage chemotherapy 8. However, the majority of elderly patients with relapsed or refractory PTCL cannot benefit from high dose chemotherapy as a result of advanced age, significant comorbidities, poor functional status, toxicities from previous treatments and inherent chemoresistance 9. Conventional salvage regimens have been mostly designed for younger or fitter populations, and can hardly be delivered to these elderly patients due to marked hematologic and non-hematologic toxicities, mainly involving renal and neurological functions 10. Therefore, it is imperative that innovative salvage regimens based on drug combinations with increased efficacy and reduced toxicity be explored for the management of elderly patients with relapsed or refractory PTCLs. 