[Successful treatment with dose-adjusted EPOCH-R for triple-hit lymphoma having BCL2, BCL6 and MYC translocations]

Double- and triple-hit lymphomas (DHL/THL), high-grade B-cell lymphomas with an extremely poor prognosis, are defined by a chromosomal breakpoint affecting the MYC/8q24 locus in combination with another recurrent breakpoint. The successful use of dose-adjusted (DA) EPOCH-R in patients with MYC-positive lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma (BL) was recently reported. A 74-year-old man with acute renal dysfunction and hyperkalemia was transferred to our emergency center by ambulance. PET-CT revealed a left renal hilar mass enveloping the abdominal para-aortic domain and bladder and hydronephrosis. High (18)F-FDG uptake revealed lymph node, peritoneum, and multiple bone metastases. Analysis of the bone marrow aspirate revealed abnormal lymphoid cells with deeply basophilic cytoplasm and numerous vacuoles resembling Burkitt cells. Chromosomal analysis revealed a complex chromosomal karyotype, including t(14;18)(q32;q21), and FISH analysis confirmed split BCL2, BCL6, and MYC signals. Bone marrow biopsy revealed diffusely infiltrating large abnormal lymphoid cells with a CD10⁺, CD20⁺, BCL2⁺, BCL6⁺, c-MYC⁺ and MUM1(-) immunophenotype. B-cell lymphoma, unclassifiable with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and BL, was diagnosed. The patient achieved a partial response after eight courses of DA-EPOCH-R chemotherapy. Our experience suggests that DA-EPOCH-R may be an effective treatment for DHL/THL.