Treatment Outcomes and Prognostic Factors in Children with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma at a Single Institution / 임상소아혈액종양

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Treatment outcomes of children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have dramatically improved in recent years. However, there are few studies on the outcomes of pediatric NHL in Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 34 children diagnosed with NHL and treated at Kosin University Gospel Hospital from Jan. 1987 to Dec. 2009, according to age, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, histology, stage and involved site. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 9.0 years. The abdomen and head/neck regions were the most common primary sites. On histologic classification, Burkitt lymphoma was the most common, followed by lymphoblastic lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and unclassifiable, with respective incidences of 35.3%, 23.5%, 17.6%, 17.6%, and 5.9%. Various combination chemotherapies according to the diagnosis with mean treatment duration of 14.9 months showed 5 year event free survival (EFS) and 5 year overall survival (OS) rate of 67.7+/-8.0% and 79.3+/-7.0%, respectively. Nine out of the 34 patients relapsed, and the 5 year OS rates for those who relapsed vs. 25 patients without relapse were 44.4+/-16.6%, vs. 92.0+/-5.4%, respectively (P<0.01). Although 5 year EFS rate varied according to stage, 5 year OS rate were not different according to age, sex, LDH, stage, histology, or treatment period. CONCLUSION: The outcome of children with NHL treated in our setting was comparable to those of other large centers in Korea. No factor other than stage, including LDH, histologic subtype showed significant prognostic value.