Outcome of Early Stage Pediatric Non-Lymphoblastic Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

There is lack of data on outcome of limited stage pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) from south Asia. In view of this lacuna, authors evaluated patients of early stage (stage 1 and 2) non-lymphoblastic pediatric NHL patients treated with uniform short course, reduced-intensity protocol from Jan 2003 through Dec 2016. Of the total 280 subjects with pediatric NHL, 50 were of early stage of which 42 received uniform protocol. B-cell subtype was observed in 83% patients. Event-free-survival (EFS) and overall-survival (OS) were 85% and 90% respectively at 5 y (median-not reached). Age > 13 y emerged as the only poor risk factor for EFS (p = 0.05) on univariate analysis and same had a trend toward inferior prognosis in OS (p = 0.09). Vincristine-induced neuropathy occurred in five patients. Febrile neutropenia was observed in 16% subjects with one patient requiring hospitalization. There was no treatment-related death. This largest data of limited stage pediatric non-lymphoblastic NHL from south Asia highlights that good outcomes may be achieved with less intense short course therapy without hospitalization, and that adolescent age is the only poor prognostic factor for outcome.