International Prognostic Score for Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma.

PURPOSE: Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) is a rare cancer, and large international cooperative efforts are needed to evaluate the significance of clinical risk factors and immunoarchitectural patterns (IAPs) for all stages of pediatric and adult patients with NLPHL. METHODS: Thirty-eight institutions participated in the Global nLPHL One Working Group retrospective study of NLPHL cases from 1992 to 2021. We measured progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), transformation rate, and lymphoma-specific death rate. We performed uni- and multivariable (MVA) Cox regression stratified by management to select factors for the lymphocyte-predominant international prognostic score (LP-IPS) validated by five-fold cross-validation. RESULTS: We identified 2,243 patients with a median age of 37 years (IQR, 23-51). The median follow-up was 6.3 years (IQR, 3.4-10.8). Most had stage I to II (72.9%) and few B symptoms (9.9%) or splenic involvement (5.4%). IAP was scored for 916 (40.8%). Frontline management included chemotherapy alone (32.4%), combined modality therapy (30.5%), radiotherapy alone (24.0%), observation after excision (4.6%), rituximab alone (4.0%), active surveillance (3.4%), and rituximab and radiotherapy (1.1%). The PFS, OS, transformation, and lymphoma-specific death rates at 10 years were 70.8%, 91.6%, 4.8%, and 3.3%, respectively. On MVA, IAPs were not associated with PFS or OS, but IAP E had higher risk of transformation (hazard ratio [HR], 1.81; P < .05). We developed the LP-IPS with 1 point each for age ≥45 years, stage III-IV, hemoglobin <10.5 g/dL, and splenic involvement. Increasing LP-IPS was significantly associated with worse PFS (HR, 1.52) and OS (HR, 2.31) and increased risk of lymphoma-specific death (HR, 2.63) and transformation (HR, 1.41). CONCLUSION: In this comprehensive study of all ages of patients with NLPHL, we develop the LP-IPS to identify high-risk patients and inform upcoming prospective clinical trials evaluating de-escalation of therapy for patients with low LP-IPS scores (<2).

Impact of Time-to-Antibiotic Delivery in Pediatric Patients With Cancer Presenting With Febrile Neutropenia.

PURPOSE: Febrile neutropenia (FN) in pediatric patients with cancer can cause severe infections, and prompt antibiotics are warranted. Extrapolated from other populations, a time-to-antibiotic (TTA) metric of <60 minutes after medical center presentation was established, with compliance data factoring into pediatric oncology program national rankings. METHODS: All FN episodes occurring at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital (2007-February 2022) and a sample of episodes from Colorado Children's Hospital (2012-2019) were abstracted, capturing TTA and clinical outcomes including major complications (intensive care unit [ICU] admission, vasopressors, intubation, or infection-related mortality). Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for age, treatment center, absolute neutrophil count, hypotension presence, stem-cell transplant status, and central line type. RESULTS: A total of 2,349 episodes were identified from Vanderbilt (1,920) and Colorado (429). Only 0.6% (n = 14) episodes required immediate ICU management, with a median TTA of 28 minutes (IQR, 20-37). For the remaining patients, the median TTA was 56 minutes (IQR, 37-90), and 54.3% received antibiotics in <60 minutes. There were no significant associations between TTA (<60 or ≥60 minutes) and major complications (adjusted OR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.62 to 1.59]; P = .98), and a TTA ≥60 minutes was not associated with any type of complication. Similarly, TTA, when evaluated as a continuous variable, was not associated with a major (OR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.94 to 1.04]; P = .69) nor any other complication in adjusted analysis. CONCLUSION: There is no clear evidence that a reduced TTA improves clinical outcomes in pediatric oncology FN and thus it should not be used as a primary quality measure.