The DEP regimen is superior to the HLH-1994 regimen as first-line therapy for lymphoma-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Abstract

Lymphoma-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (LA-HLH) has a poor prognosis. Currently, there is no unified, effective first-line treatment regimen for it. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 50 patients who received the DEP regimen and 30 patients who received the HLH-1994 regimen. After 2 weeks of treatment, the ORR of the DEP group was higher than that of the HLH-1994 group (p = 0.024). After 4 weeks, the CR and ORR of the DEP group were higher than those of the HLH-1994 group (p < 0.05). The recurrence rate of the HLH-1994 group within 4 weeks (20.0%) was higher than that of the DEP group (2.1%) (p < 0.05). The median survival of patients with NK/T and T-cell lymphoma in the DEP group (10.1 months) was longer than the median survival of the HLH-1994 group (2.6 months) (p = 0.017). Our study suggests that the DEP regimen can improve Week 2 and Week 4 ORR, Week 4 CR, and reduce Week 4 recurrence rate for LA-HLH more than the HLH-1994 regimen.

Keywords:

• Lymphoma-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
• DEP
• HLH-1994

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the patients in this study and all the colleagues in the Department of Haematology of Beijing Friendship Hospital.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81871633); Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 7181003); Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals' Ascent Plan (DFL20180101).