Salvage treatment improved survival of patients with relapsed extranodal natural killer/t-cell lymphoma, nasal type

To evaluate the clinical outcome of salvage treatment for patients with relapsed natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type.

Forty-four patients who had achieved complete response during initial treatment and experienced histologically proven relapse were reviewed. Twenty-nine of them received salvage treatment with radiotherapy (RT) alone (n = 7), chemotherapy (CT) alone (n = 10), or both RT and CT (n = 12); the other 15 patients received best supportive care alone.

The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) rate for patients with or without salvage treatment was 37.8% vs. 0 (p < 0.0001), respectively. Salvage CT did not improve survival of relapsed Stage IE and IIE patients. Among relapsed Stage IIIE and IVE patients who received salvage treatment, RT developed significantly better survival when compared with that of non-RT (1-year OS, 62.5% vs. 0, p = 0.006). Relapsed Ann Arbor stage and receiving salvage treatment were found to be significant factors influencing OS at both univariate and multivariate levels.

Salvage treatment improved survival in patients with relapsed NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type. Salvage RT may play an important role in salvage treatment of relapsed extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma.