Rates and Durability of Response to Salvage Radiation Therapy Among Patients With Refractory or Relapsed Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2015 · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJROBP.2014.09.041· OSTI ID:22423858

Chen, Yu-Hui ^[1]; Catalano, Paul J. ^[1]; Ng, Andrea ^[2]

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1. Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)
2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)

Purpose: To evaluate the response rate (RR) and time to local recurrence (TTLR) among patients who received salvage radiation therapy for relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and investigate whether RR and TTLR differed according to disease characteristics. Methods and Materials: A retrospective review was performed for all patients who completed a course of salvage radiation therapy between January 2001 and May 2011 at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Separate analyses were conducted for patients treated with palliative and curative intent. Predictors of RR for each subgroup were assessed using a generalized estimating equation model. For patients treated with curative intent, local control (LC) and progression-free survival were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method; predictors for TTLR were evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: Salvage radiation therapy was used to treat 110 patients to 121 sites (76 curative, 45 palliative). Salvage radiation therapy was given as part of consolidation in 18% of patients treated with curative intent. Median dose was 37.8 Gy, with 58% and 36% of curative and palliative patients, respectively, receiving 39.6 Gy or higher. The RR was high (86% curative, 84% palliative). With a median follow-up of 4.8 years among living patients, 5-year LC and progression-free survival for curative patients were 66% and 34%, respectively. Refractory disease (hazard ratio 3.3; P=.024) and lack of response to initial chemotherapy (hazard ratio 4.3; P=.007) but not dose (P=.93) were associated with shorter TTLR. Despite doses of 39.6 Gy or higher, 2-year LC was only 61% for definitive patients with refractory disease or disease that did not respond to initial chemotherapy. Conclusions: Relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL is responsive to salvage radiation therapy, and durable LC can be achieved in some cases. However, refractory disease is associated with a shorter TTLR, suggesting that radiation dose escalation, addition of radiosensitizers, or a combination of both may be indicated in these patients.

• OSTI ID: 22423858
• Journal Information: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Journal Name: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 91; ISSN IOBPD3; ISSN 0360-3016
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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