Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas in Children: 25-Year Clinical Experience

Abstract

Background & Aims. Current polychemotherapeutic protocols based on differentiated and risk-adopted approaches permitted to consider non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) potentially curable diseases although they had been considered fatal previously. The aim of this study is to summarize and analyze outcomes of NHL therapy over a 25-year period. Methods. 246 patients were enrolled in the study. They were treated in the department of chemotherapy of hemoblastoses in the Scientific Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology under the NN Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center over the period of 25 years: from April 1, 1991, till June 1, 2016. B-NHL-BFM 90/95 protocols and a modified B-NHL-BFM 95 protocol (with rituximab) were used for B-cell NHLs (n = 130). Patients with lymphocytic leukemia (n = 75) were treated using ALL-mBFM 90/95 and ALL IC-BFM 2002 protocols. 21 patients with anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL) received treatment according to the B-NHL-BFM 90/95 protocol, and 20 patients received the НИИ ДОГ-АККЛ-2007 protocol. Results. Taking into account clinical and immunological characteristics of ALCL, the authors invented an original НИИ Д0Г-АККЛ-2007 protocol. Special attention was paid to potential modification of standard treatment regimens for B-cell NHL by adding rituximab. The article demonstrates the evolution in prescription of rituximab for B-cell NHL and possibilities for reduction of the total number of polychemotherapy cycles for late-stage tumors without deterioration of treatment outcomes. Conclusion. The obtained results permit to conclude that introduction of achievements of oncoimmunology, molecular biology, and cytogenetics will become the basis for further modification of existing treatment options for NHL.