Prophylactic intrathecal chemotherapy in primary CNS lymphoma

The role of prophylactic intrathecal chemotherapy in the treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma remains controversial. We report a retrospective single center study of a cohort of 69 patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma who had been treated with a regimen that combined high intravenous doses of Methotrexate, CCNU, procarbazine and methylprednisolone. Before 2000, patients systematically received intrathecal prophylaxis including Methotrexate, cytarabine, and hydrocortisone delivered either by intraventricular or lumbar injection along with the systemic chemotherapy (group A, n = 39). After this date, the procedure was changed and intrathecal chemotherapy was withdrawn from the protocol (group B, n = 30). The median age and Karnofsky index were comparable in both groups. At the time of analysis, we found no significant difference between patients with and without intrathecal prophylaxis in terms of objective response rate, patterns of relapse, progression-free survival or overall survival. In our study, intrathecal prophylaxis withdrawal from a high dose intravenous Methotrexate-based chemotherapy regimen did not influence disease control and outcome of primary central nervous system lymphoma. Further studies prospectively investigating the role of intrathecal chemoprophylaxis are warranted for this disease.