Abstract:
Objective To explore the pathogenesis, clinical features, treatment strategies, and prognosis of pediatric lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC).
Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients with LELC aged <18 years, treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from March 2008 to June 2023.
Results A total of 19 children and adolescents were included in the analysis, comprising 10 males (52.6%) and 9 females (47.4%), with a median age of 12.9 (4.3-17.0) years. Fourteen patients (73.7%) lived in Guangdong province, with the remainder scattered across other regions. Primary LELC sites were the mediastinum (11 cases, 57.9%), parotid glands (4 cases, 21%), neck (1 case, 5.3%), lungs (1 case, 5.3%), salivary glands (1 case, 5.3%), and submandibular glands (1 case, 5.3%). Among these, 15 patients (78.9%) had at least one distant metastasis at initial diagnosis, with common metastasis sites being cervical lymph nodes. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified tumor volume ≥801 cm3 as an independent adverse prognostic factor of poor overall survival (OS) (P<0.01). The 2-year OS and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 84.2% and 57.9%, respectively. The 2-year OS for patients who underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy was 100%, compared with 25% for those who received only partial treatment (P=0.007). The 2-year PFS rate was significantly higher in patients receiving first-line combination therapy with programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibodies (100%) compared with those not treated with PD-1 antibodies (38.5%) (P=0.020). For patients with tumor volume ≥801 cm3, the 2-year OS was 40.0%, whereas for those with a tumor volume <801 cm3, the 2-year OS was 100% (P<0.001). The 2-year OS for patients who underwent radiotherapy was 100%, while it was 0 for those who did not receive radiotherapy (P<0.001).
Conclusions Pediatric LELC exhibits a relatively favorable prognosis with multidisciplinary treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The combined use of PD-1 antibodies at the time of initial diagnosis could offer potential benefits and warrants further exploration.