Involved-lesion radiation therapy after chemotherapy in limited-stage head-and-neck diffuse large B cell lymphoma

To report treatment outcomes after combined-modality therapy in patients with Stage I/II head-and-neck (HN) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBL).

Eighty-six eligible patients received sequential chemotherapy and involved-lesion radiation therapy from 1995 to 2006. After a median of four cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) or rituximab-plus-CHOP chemotherapy, a median of 41.4 Gy was delivered to the known initial gross lesion with adequate margin (2 to 3 cm).

After a median follow-up of 57 months, eight treatment failures were observed: distant metastasis in 8 patients; and locoregional failure in 4 patients. Among the 4 patients with locoregional failure, 3 presented with in-field failures, and 1 both in-field and out-of-field failure (contralateral neck). Rates of overall survival (OS) and freedom from progression (FFP) at 10 years were 74.1% and 88.9%, respectively. There was no severe side effect except 1 patient with Grade 3 mucositis during and after completion of radiation therapy. Multivariate analyses showed that absence of B symptom (p = 0.022) and normal lactate dehydrogenase (p = 0.017) were related to favorable OS, age >60 years (p = 0.033) was related to favorable FFP, and international prognostic index of 0 or 1 was related to favorable OS (p = 0.003) and FFP (p = 0.03).

This study demonstrated that patients with Stage I/II HN DLBL did not need whole-neck irradiation. Involved-lesion radiation therapy might reduce radiation toxicity with favorable treatment results.