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Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in adolescents: experiences in 378 adolescent NHL patients treated according to pediatric NHL-BFM protocols

Leukemia volume 25, pages 153–160 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Age-related differences in the distribution, biology and treatment response of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in adolescents remain to be elucidated. The current analyses present clinical parameters and outcomes of adolescents treated in pediatric NHL-BFM trials. Patients were stratified by histological subtype: lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL); mature B-NHL, including Burkitt's lymphoma/leukemia (BL/B-AL), diffuse B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL-CB) and mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMLBL); and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Between October 1986 and December 2007, 2915 patients were registered, including 378 (13%) adolescents (15–18 years) with BL/B-AL (n=101), ALCL (n=74), DLBCL-CB (n=55), T-LBL (n=45), PMLBL (n=24), pB-LBL (n=13) and rare or not-specified NHL subtypes (n=66). The 5-year event-free survival (EFS) was 79±2% for adolescents compared with 85±1% for patients aged <15 years (P=0.014). EFS was 83±7% for adolescents with T-LBL, 82±4% with BL/B-AL, 85±5% with DLBCL-CB, 57±10% with PMLBL and 70±6% with ALCL. According to sex, the 5-year EFS in females versus males, respectively, was 70±5 versus 83±2% overall (P=0.004), 57±17 versus 92±6% (P=0.0036) for T-LBL patients and 71±9 versus 97±3% (P=0.0067) for DLBCL-CB patients. Adolescents with NHL treated according to pediatric NHL-BFM protocols had an EFS of 79±2%, which is marginally inferior to that of children. In adolescents with T-LBL and DLBCL-CB, female sex was associated with a worse prognosis.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the help of Jasmin Lisfeld, the expert work of Ulrike Meyer, Bettina Paul, and Nora Mühlegger (data management), and Edelgard Odenwald and Gabriele Buck (cytomorphology).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, NHL-BFM Study Center, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

    B Burkhardt, M Zimmermann, W Woessmann, A Meinhardt, E Landmann & A Reiter

  2. Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    I Oschlies & W Klapper

  3. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, St Anna Children's Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    A Attarbaschi

  4. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Children's University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

    F Niggli

  5. Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    M Schrappe

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Parts of the data were presented as an oral presentation at the 51st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans, LA, USA, December 5–8, 2009, Abstract No. 102; and the 3rd International Symposium on Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Frankfurt, Germany, June 11–13, 2009.

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Burkhardt, B., Oschlies, I., Klapper, W. et al. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in adolescents: experiences in 378 adolescent NHL patients treated according to pediatric NHL-BFM protocols. Leukemia 25, 153–160 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2010.245

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