Acute Leukemias - Republican Scientific Medical Library
Acute Leukemias - Republican Scientific Medical Library
Acute Leukemias - Republican Scientific Medical Library
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
a 16.8 · Results of Stem Cell Transplantation in LBL 209<br />
patients. Therefore MedRad still has a role in adult LBL.<br />
Since an irradiation dose of 24 Gy may not be sufficient<br />
in the new GMALL protocol for T-LBL, patients receive<br />
prophylactic MedRad at a dose of 36 Gy similar to the<br />
dose included in NHL protocols for local irradiation. Irradiation<br />
is delivered after induction therapy without<br />
parallel chemotherapy in order to reduce hematotoxicity.<br />
On the other hand, MedRad leads to delays of systemic<br />
chemotherapy and since hematopoietic tissue is<br />
involved, toxicity of subsequent chemotherapy cycles<br />
may be increased. Due to this dilemma the optimal<br />
strategy remains to be defined.<br />
16.7 Prognostic Factors<br />
One important issue in adult LBL is the identification of<br />
prognostic factors in order to define indications for SCT<br />
in first CR. A variety of risk factors for relapse have been<br />
described in single studies such as higher age (>30–<br />
40 years) [12, 14, 15, 30, 42], increased LDH (either<br />
above normal or above 2´ normal) [11, 12, 14, 15, 21,<br />
23], CNS [12, 18, 23, 30], bone marrow [12, 23, 24, 42,<br />
43] or extranodal involvement [21], stage IV disease<br />
[12, 15, 23, 42, 43], presence of B-symptoms [14], or decreased<br />
hemoglobin [14]. The majority of them are indicators<br />
for advanced disease or large tumor mass. Partial<br />
or late response was also associated with a poorer<br />
outcome [11, 14, 30].<br />
Both recent larger trials with intensive chemotherapy<br />
hardly identified prognostic factors in adult LBL.<br />
In the GMALL series on T-LBL, the only significant<br />
prognostic factor for survival was elevated LDH. No<br />
single risk factor for relapse risk could be identified.<br />
Particularly the stage of disease and age did not have<br />
a prognostic impact [11]. In the MDACC series only<br />
CNS involvement at diagnosis was significantly associated<br />
with poorer outcome [18]. Similarly no prognostic<br />
factors were identified in the largest series in<br />
childhood T-LBL. Neither age, stage, LDH, nor immunophenotype<br />
appeared to have an impact on DFS<br />
[7]. The decreased relevance of single prognostic<br />
factors may therefore be a consequence of more effective<br />
chemotherapy in adult as well as in childhood<br />
LBL.<br />
A convincing prognostic model has not yet been<br />
defined for adult LBL. New prognostic factors are required<br />
to define indications for SCT in CR1. The better<br />
characterization of biologic markers, e.g., immuno-<br />
phenotype of T-LBL, may contribute to this aim. Rational<br />
assessment of individual treatment response<br />
and relapse risk may be based on evaluation of minimal<br />
residual disease from bone marrow or peripheral<br />
blood. Furthermore, analysis of gene expression profiles,<br />
as recently published for T-ALL [44] and T-LBL<br />
[4], may help to identify new prognostic markers in<br />
T-LBL.<br />
16.8 Results of Stem Cell Transplantation<br />
in LBL<br />
SCT was included to a different extent in published studies<br />
and sometimes restricted to high risk LBL patients<br />
(Table 16.4).<br />
16.8.1 Autologous SCT<br />
The majority of studies evaluated the role of autologous<br />
(auto) SCT with a weighted mean for DFS of 61 (31–77)%<br />
[13–16, 45–47, 49, 50]. One prospective study was based<br />
on treatment with two sequential high-dose induction<br />
courses (without HDAC or HDMTX) followed by BEAM<br />
and autologous SCT. Thirteen patients with LBL were<br />
included and the CR rate was 73%. At 5 years the survival<br />
was 46% and the DFS 40%, which is inferior to chemotherapy<br />
studies. Surprisingly, results with this regimen<br />
were significantly better in Burkitt’s lymphoma<br />
[52].<br />
This favorable result for auto SCT in de novo and<br />
advanced disease may be at least partly due to selection<br />
mechanism, e.g., part of the patients reaching auto SCT<br />
after intensive front-line therapy may have been already<br />
cured by chemotherapy and the few patients reaching<br />
auto SCT after relapse of LBL may represent those few<br />
with chemosensitive disease at relapse.<br />
16.8.2 Allogeneic SCT<br />
Less experience exists with allogeneic (allo) SCT in LBL<br />
[16, 45, 50] with a mean DFS of 74 (59–91%) in a few<br />
small series (Table 16.4). In a survey of the European<br />
Bone Marrow Transplantation Registry (EBMTR), the<br />
survival of 222 LBL patients with allo SCT in first remission<br />
or advanced disease was 38% with a considerable<br />
rate of transplant related mortality (TRM) (31%). In this