Tunisian adult's Hodgkin lymphoma Study Group.

The Tunisian adult's Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) Study Group was created in 1999. It aimed to improve the management of this curable hematologic malignancy by standardizing the diagnosis, assessment of disease, treatment management and therapeutic evaluation in different Tunisian centers (Hematology, oncology and radiotherapy).Since 1998, four versions of the prospective national protocol for treating adult Hodgkin lymphoma have succeeded (MDH99, MDH2002, MDH2008, MDH2015). Each version was based on the results of the previous version and analyzed according to new data from the literature. Due to this national study group, the number of patients lost to follow decreased significantly (30% before the creation of the group and only 3% for patients treated with MDH2008), the complete and uncertain response rates have improved (75% before the creation of the group and 92% in patients treated with MDH2008) with dramatically improved rates of overall survival from 57% to 90%. On the other hand there was an improvement of toxic death rate (13% of toxic deaths in MDH2002 to 4.37% in the MDH2008) with a decrease of the respective rate of primary failure and relapse by 17% and 12.5% in MDH2002 against the 11.4% and 7.8% in the MDH2008. This resulted in an improvement in overall survival (90%) and event-free survival at 5 years (75%). Now with the introduction of positron emission tomography in Tunisia, we hope yet to finalize the assessment of response and thus better adapt the treatment of this disease. Our objective remains the improvement of event-free survival rate to reach 80%.

Management of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) undergoing radiotherapy: A consensus document from the Tunisian Society of Oncology Radiotherapy and the Tunisian Society of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery.

In patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices CIEDs, including cardiac pacemakers (PM) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD), radiotherapy (RT) could compromise CIED function. Managing radiotherapy patients with CIED, has been a great practical and procedural challenge in radiotherapy and requires a structured multidisciplinary approach. A consensus document is presented as a result of a multidisciplinary working group involving cardiac electrophysiologists, Radiation Oncologists and Medical physicists. It aims to propose recommendations on risk stratification, management approach before, during and after radiation treatment/course of patients with CIED.

[Tunisian National Protocol for Adult Hodgkin's Lymphoma Treatment: Results of a therapeutic regimen adapted to the 2-cycle CT response, about 444 patients]. / Protocole national Tunisien prospectif de traitement du Lymphome de Hodgkin de l'adulte : résultats d'un schéma thérapeutique adapté à la réponse par tomodensitométrie à 2 cycles, à propos de 444 patients.

OBJECTIVE: In Tunisia, the management of Adult Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) has been standardized since 1999. We propose in this study to report the therapeutic results of the national protocol of adult HL treatment (MDH2008). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our study is prospective multicenter interesting 444 patients followed for HL between July 2008 and June 2013 and treated according to the MDH2008 protocol. The median age of our patients was 30 years. B symptoms were present in 62.8 % of our patients. According to the Ann Arbor classification, our patients were in stages I, II, III and IV in 3 %, 42 %, 26 % and 29 %, respectively. The MDH2008 protocol is based on a strategy adapted to the therapeutic response to 2 cycles of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Response≥75 % to 2 courses of chemotherapy was achieved in 43 % of patients and the response rate at the end of treatment was 92.1 %. Forty-eight patients (11.4 %) had primary failure. In the multi-variant study, bulky mediastinal mass (IMT≥0.35) was an independent predictive factor of primary failure (P: 0.000). Nineteen toxic deaths (4.35 %) were reported. The relapse rate was 7.8 %. Event free survival, relapse-free survival and overall survival at 5years were 75 %, 89 % and 90 %, respectively. Adaptation of the treatment to the 2 cycles response was effective in unfavorable early stages and advanced stages. CONCLUSION: Compared to MDH2002 (second version of Tunisian prospective protocol), the MDH2008 reduced the primary failure rate, the rate of toxic deaths with escalated BEACOPP and the rate of relapse in Tunisian patients.