Favorable Outcomes Among Patients with T-Cell/Histiocyte-Rich Large B-Cell Lymphoma Treated with Higher-Intensity Therapy in the Rituximab Era

Background

T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (THRLBCL) is an uncommon variant of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), characterized by low content of lymphoma cells in a background of extensive infiltrate of T-cells and histiocytes. Historically, THRLBCL was considered an aggressive variant of DLBCL with poorer outcomes and a 3-year OS <50% (Achten et al., J Clin Oncol, 2002). To date, most series evaluating outcomes for patients (pts) with THRLBCL were published in the pre-rituximab era. Recent analysis suggested that outcomes for this disease may be better for pts treated in the rituximab era (Ollila et el., Leukemia & Lymphoma, 2009). However, data regarding treatment patterns and outcomes for pts with THRLBCL in the rituximab era is limited.

We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, prognostic factors, response to treatment, and outcome among pts diagnosed with THRLBCL at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in the rituximab era.

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively reviewed all cases of THRLBCL who were diagnosed in our center from January 2000 to October 2019. We collected data for demographic and clinical characteristics, pathology results, disease stage and sites of involvement, treatment regimen, and outcome. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess associations between patient characteristics and treatment regimen. Fisher’s exact test and Wilcoxon test were used to assess associations between categorical or continuous characteristics and response to treatment, respectively. The likelihood ratio test was used to assess significance of Cox regression univariate models. Overall survival (OS) was measured from date of diagnosis until last follow up or death. Event-free survival (EFS) was measured from end of treatment to last follow up or pathology proven relapse or disease progression. Survival curves were estimated using the Kaplan Meier method.

Results

A total of 100 pts were diagnosed with THRLBCL at our center during the study period. We excluded 33 pts who had missing data regarding stage, frontline treatment, or response. A total of 67 pts were included for analysis in our cohort. Median follow up duration among survivors was 3.4 years (range 0.4-10.8 years). Baseline characteristics are summarized in table 1. Forty-eight were males (72%). Median age at diagnosis was 41 years (range 19-86). Fifty-three (72%) pts were diagnosed at stage IV. Thirty-five (52%) pts had involvement of more than 1 extra-nodal site. The most common extranodal site was bone (60%). Fourteen pts had a positive bone marrow biopsy (26% of those evaluated). Univariate analysis was performed for age, gender, ethnicity, stage, extra-nodal sites, presence of B symptoms, performance status, elevated LDH, IPI score>=3, and history of NLPHL. None of these factors were found significantly associated with response rate, EFS, or OS.

Frontline treatment is shown in table 2 and included R-CHOP or R-CHOP based treatment in 48% (n=32), R-EPOCH in 12% (n=8), R-CHOP/R-ICE (4 cycles of R-CHOP-14 followed by 3 cycles of R-ICE, Moskowitz CH, et al. JCO 2010) in 33% (n=22) and other regimens in 7.5% (n=5). CNS prophylactic treatment was given in 19 pts. One pt had an autologous stem cell transplant and 1 pt had an allogeneic stem cell transplant as part of frontline treatment. Fifty-one (76%) pts had a complete response (CR) to frontline treatment. Among these pts, 6 relapsed. Sixteen (24%) pts had refractory disease. Among pts with relapsed or refractory disease, 18 received additional therapy. In the whole cohort, 3-year EFS was 68% and 3-year OS was 85%. In a sub-group analysis of pts who received R-CHOP/R-ICE compared to pts who were treated with R-CHOP or R-EPOCH, CR rates were 95% and 70% respectively (p=0.014). The R-CHOP/R-ICE regimen was also associated with higher 3-year EFS of 86% compared to 62% (p=0.049) and a better 3-year OS of 100% compared with 79% (p=0.016). See figures 1-2. The 2 treatment groups were not significantly different with regards to baseline characteristics.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates better outcomes among pts with THRLBCL compared to available historical data from the pre-rituximab era. In addition, with the limitation of a retrospective, single-center study, our data suggests that for newly diagnosed THRLBCL, treatment with a higher intensity regimen, such as R-CHOP/R-ICE, may be associated with favorable outcome.