TCL-260: T-Cell Lymphoma Diagnosis and Treatment in the Republic of Kosovo

Abstract

Context: T-cell lymphoma is an uncommon hematological malignancy in Kosovo compared to the other lymphoid malignancies. These are a variety of subtypes of the disease present with anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma being the most common. The diagnosis of this disease has increased in the last few years and the treatment with chemotherapy and other supportive care has many challenges. This study was conducted to better understand the disease so we can improve the quality of care for the patients. Design: Cross sectional retrospective epidemiological study. The data was collected during the period of February 2015 to January 2020. Setting: The data was collected from the chemotherapy treatment protocol books in the hematology Clinic of the University Clinical Center of Kosovo. Patients and other participants: Adults, age 18 and older, both genders, diagnosed the treated with T-cell lymphoma in the hematology clinic of Kosovo. The diagnosis was made based on histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of lymphoid tissue. Results: During the period specified above, 43 patients were diagnosed and treated with T-cell lymphoma, the most common was anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma with 9 (20.93%), then enteropathy associated T-cell lymphoma with 7 (16.28%), NK/T-cell lymphoma with 4 (9.30%). One rare example of T-cell lymphoma was a patient diagnosed with gamma/delta T-cell lymphoma, which was the only such case in our clinic. From the patients diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma during this period, 30 were treated with the CHOP protocol as first line chemotherapy. Conclusions: The majority of patients were treated with the CHOP chemotherapy protocol as first line therapy. The results of the treatments were successful in achieving remissions in a small number of patients. The patients that did not achieve remission received a second treatment protocol with mixed results.