Abstract:
Objective The effect and side effect of the dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen were evaluated perspectively for the preliminarily diagnosed angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
Methods Nine cases of untreated angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma were diagnosed and enrolled in our department from September 2008 to September 2012. All patients received dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen as first-line chemotherapy.
Results The median age of 9 patients was 54 years. The male-to-female ratio was 2 : 1. About 88.9% of all patients were at Ann Arbor stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ, and 77.8% presented with B symptoms. Anemia was found in 66.7% of 9 patients, and lactate dehydrogenase elevated in 55.6% of patients. After an average of 4.7 cycles of chemotherapy of dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen, the complete remission rate was 22.2%, and the total response rate was 66.7%. With a median follow-up of 20 months, the 4-year progression-free survival rate was 11.1%, and the overall survival rate was 33.3%. The median survival time was 19 months. The most common adverse events of EPOCH chemotherapy were hematologic toxicity. Grades 3-4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were reported in 77.8% and 33.3% of patients. Febrile neutropenia was observed in 44.4% of patients. Non-treatment-related mortality was also noted.
Conclusion The results of our research showed no clear benefit of treating preliminarily diagnosed angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma with dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen. The main adverse events were hematologic toxicity and could be tolerated.