Radiotherapy for early stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with or without double or triple hit genetic alterations

Abstract

We investigated whether adding radiation (RT) to systemic therapy improved outcomes in early stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients with or without double- or triple-hit lymphoma (DHL/THL) biology. This analysis included 183 patients profiled with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for alterations in MYC, BLC2, and/or BCL6. A total of 146 (80%) were non-DHL/THL, 27 (15%) were DHL, and 10 (6%) were THL. Systemic therapy without RT resulted in inferior freedom from relapse (FFR) (HR: 2.28; 95% CI, 1.10–4.77; p = .02). The median FFR for non-DHL/THL was not reached and was 33 and 22.3 months for DHL and THL, respectively; p < .001. Low-risk (R-IPI <2) DHL/THL patients treated with rituximab-based therapy had 3-year FFR rates of 11% and 71% for systemic therapy without and with RT, respectively; p = .04. No differences in overall survival were observed between the treatment groups. Treatment intensification with RT may improve early stage DHL/THL outcomes.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02272686.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02815397.

Keywords:

• Radiation
• double hit or triple hit lymphoma
• molecular genetics

Potential conflict of interest

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10428194.2018.1506586.