[Clinical Characteristics and Survival Analysis of Pediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Fujian Province]

To summarize the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in Fujian Province.

Clinical data of 294 newly diagnosed pediatric NHL patients treated at multiple centers in Fujian Province from January 2011 to December 2023 were collected. The characteristics of different pathological subtypes were summarized, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were performed and Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for prognostic analysis.

A total of 294 pediatric NHL patients were included in this study, with a male-to-female ratio of 3.03∶1 and a median age of 7 years (range, 0.9-14 years). The most common subtype was mature B-cell lymphoma, accounting for 59.2% of cases. The majority of patients were diagnosed at stage III/IV (86.2%), with 32 cases (10.9%) involving central nervous system (CNS) infiltration and 89 cases (30.3%) showing bone marrow involvement. The rate of voluntary abandonment significantly decreased after 2018 (abandonment rates before and after 2018: 6/110 (5.45%) vs. 1/184 (0.54%), P =0.012). Furthermore, excluding cases of voluntary abandonment, the 5-year EFS and OS of newly diagnosed pediatric NHL patients from 2018 to 2023 were still significantly higher than those diagnosed from 2011 to 2017 (EFS: 79.3%±3.7% vs. 70.2%±4.5%, P =0.032; OS: 87.7%±2.6% vs. 70.2%±4.5%, P < 0.001). OS improvements after 2018 were significant in patients with BL and LBL (BL: 89.3%±3.6% vs. 73.5%±7.6%, P =0.033; LBL: 89.3%±5.3% vs. 56.5%±10.3%, P =0.001). However, there were no statistically significant differences in EFS or OS for patients with ALCL or DLBCL (all P >0.05). Multivariate survival analysis identified concurrent hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis syndrome was an independent risk factors for both EFS and OS in pediatric NHL patients.

Over the past six years, OS and EFS in children with NHL in Fujian Province have improved markedly, with more pronounced gains in BL and LBL. This trend may be related to the combined effects of reduced voluntary treatment abandonment, more standardized diagnostic and therapeutic pathways, treatment optimization, and updated protocols. HLH at initial diagnosis is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in pediatric NHL, while remission after two chemotherapy cycles suggests a favorable outcome.