Study of regimen based on L-asparaginase for 36 cases with nasal type extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma

Abstract

Object To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of L-asparaginase based regimen for extranodal nasal type NK/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL).Methods 36 patients were treated with L-asparaginase based regimen from February 2008 to November 2011. 20 stage Ⅰ /Ⅱ patients were administered with VLD regimen based chemo-radiotherapy. 4 of 16 stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ patients received modified SMILE regimen chemotherapy, followed by involved field radiation therapy (IFRT), while others received modified SMILE regimen chemotherapy alone.Results Among 36 patients,35 were eligible for treatment response evaluation.The overall response rate (RR) was 68.6％ (24/35) with complete response (CR) rate of 54.3％ (19/35).After the median follow-up of 13.5 (range 3-31) months,for all patients,the 1-year overall survival (OS) rate was 82 ％,and the rate of progression-free survival (PFS) at 1 year was 65 ％.The patients who attained response with treatment showed better 1-year OS (93 ％) and PFS (80 ％) as compared with patients without response (35 ％; 33 ％),and the differences were statistically significant (x2=13.909,P =0.000; x2=8.216,P =0.004).The major adverse event was myelosuppression. No chemotherapy-related mortality occurred. Conclusion L-asparaginase based regimen is obviously effective and well tolerant for ENKTL. The large prospective clinical trials of L-asparaginase based regimen in the first-line treatment for ENKTL are worth for further investigation. Key words: Lymphoma, extranodal NK-T cell; L-asparaginase; Drug therapy, combination