Patterns and Timing of Failure for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma After Initial Therapy in a Cohort Who Underwent...

To evaluate the location and timing of initial recurrence in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who subsequently underwent high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplant (HDC/ASCT), to direct approaches for disease surveillance, elucidate the patterns of failure of contemporary treatment strategies, and guide adjuvant treatment decisions.

We analyzed consecutive patients with DLBCL who underwent HDC/ASCT between May 1992 and March 2014 at our institution. Of the 187 evaluable patients, 8 had incomplete data, and 79 underwent HDC/ASCT as a component of initial treatment for de novo or refractory DLBCL and were excluded from further analysis.

The median age was 50.8 years; the median time to relapse was 1.3 years. Patients were segregated according to the initial stage at diagnosis, with early stage (ES) defined as stage I/II and advanced stage (AS) defined as stage III/IV. In total, 40.4% of the ES and 75.5% of the AS patients relapsed in sites of initial disease; 68.4% of those with ES disease and 75.0% of those with AS disease relapsed in sites of initial disease only. Extranodal relapses were common (44.7% in ES and 35.9% in AS) and occurred in a variety of organs, although gastrointestinal tract/liver (n=12) was most frequent.

Most patients with DLBCL who relapse and subsequently undergo HDC/ASCT initially recur in the previously involved disease site(s). Time to recurrence is brief, suggesting that frequency of screening is most justifiably greatest in the early posttherapy years. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.