Abstract
Radiotherapy (RT) can be curative in patients with localized follicular lymphoma (FL), with historical series showing a 10-year disease-free survival of 40 to 50%. As 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography with computerized tomography (PET-CT) upstages 10 to 60% of patients compared to CT, we sought to evaluate outcomes in patients staged by PET-CT, to determine if more accurate staging leads to better patient selection and results. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study under the direction of the International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group (ILROG). Inclusion criteria were: RT alone for untreated stage I to II FL (grade 1-3A) with dose equivalent ‡24 Gy, staged by PET-CT, age ‡18 years, and follow-up ‡3 months. End points were freedom from progression (FFP), local control, and overall survival (OS). A total of 512 patients treated between 2000 and 2017 at 16 centers were eligible for analysis; median age was 58 years (range, 20-90); 410 patients (80.1%) had stage I disease; median RT dose was 30 Gy (24-52); and median follow-up was 52 months (3.2-174.6). Five-year FFP and OS were 68.9% and 95.7%. For stage I, FFP was 74.1% vs 49.1% for stage II (P < .0001). Eight patients relapsed in-field (1.6%). Four had marginal recurrences (0.8%) resulting in local control rate of 97.6%. On multivariable analysis, stage II (hazard ratio [HR], 2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.44-3.10) and BCL2 expression (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.07-2.47) were significantly associated with less favorable FFP. Outcome after RT in PET-CT staged patients appears to be better than in earlier series, particularly in stage I disease, suggesting that the curative potential of RT for truly localized FL has been underestimated.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Blood |
Volume | 133 |
Issue number | 3 |
Pages (from-to) | 237-245 |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISSN | 0006-4971 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
© 2019 by The American Society of Hematology.Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Female
- Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
- Follow-Up Studies
- Humans
- Lymphoma, Follicular/diagnostic imaging
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/diagnostic imaging
- Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography/standards
- Prognosis
- Radiopharmaceuticals
- Radiotherapy/mortality
- Retrospective Studies
- Survival Rate
- Young Adult