Outcomes in lymphoma patients with obstructive jaundice: a cancer center experience

Little information is available to guide clinicians on the optimal approach to managing obstructive jaundice in lymphoma patients.

The aim of this study was to review our experience in treating lymphoma patients with obstructive jaundice in order to develop guidelines as to the best interventional approach.

We reviewed the medical records of all lymphoma patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and/or percutaneous biliary drainage (PBD) for obstructive jaundice between June 2002 and October 2008.

We identified 35 lymphoma patients who underwent ERCP and/or PBD for obstructive jaundice. The mean age was 57.6 years. Most patients (66%) had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Stents were placed by ERCP in 25 patients and PBD in nine. Serum bilirubin levels normalized following ERCP or PBD in 29 of 33 (85%) patients with stricture. Stricture resolution occurred in 12 cases. Patients who had obstructive jaundice at the time of their lymphoma diagnosis had significantly longer mean overall survival following intervention than patients in whom obstructive jaundice developed later in the course of their disease (21.3 months vs. 4.5 months, P = 0.0001).

ERCP and/or PBD effectively normalized serum bilirubin levels. Plastic stents should be used in patients who have obstructive jaundice at the time of lymphoma diagnosis because these strictures tend to resolve before stent exchanges are necessary. For patients in whom obstructive jaundice develops later in the course of their disease, the limited prognosis often makes a single intervention with insertion of a plastic stent sufficient to provide adequate biliary decompression.