This study showed significant improvements in OS and PFS among patients who received consolidation RT after R-CHOP chemotherapy for DLBCL.

Purpose Few studies to date have evaluated factors associated with the development of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), especially in patients treated with contemporary radiation techniques. These patients represent a unique group owing to the often large radiation target volumes within the mediastinum and to the potential to receive several lines of chemotherapy that add to pulmonary toxicity for relapsed or refractory disease. Our objective was to determine the incidence and clinical and dosimetric risk factors associated with RP in lymphoma patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) at a single institution. Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical charts and radiation records of 150 consecutive patients who received mediastinal IMRT for HL and NHL from 2009 through 2013. Clinical and dosimetric predictors associated with RP per the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) acute toxicity criteria were identified in univariate analysis using the Pearson χ2 test and logistic multivariate regression. Results Mediastinal radiation was administered as consolidation therapy in 110 patients with newly diagnosed HL or NHL and in 40 patients with relapsed or refractory disease. The overall incidence of RP (RTOG grade 1–3) was 14% in the entire cohort. Risk of RP was increased for patients who received radiation for relapsed or refractory disease (25%) versus those who received consolidation (10%, P=0.019). Several dosimetric parameters predicted RP, including mean lung dose (MLD) >13.5 Gy, V20 >30%, V15 >35%, V10 >40% and V5>55%. The likelihood ratio (LR) χ2 value was highest for V5< 55% (LR χ2=19.37). Conclusions In using IMRT to treat mediastinal lymphoma, all dosimetric parameters predicted RP, although small doses to large volumes of lung had the greatest influence. Patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma who received salvage chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were at higher risk for symptomatic RP.

The presence of bulky disease in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), traditionally defined with a 1-dimensional measurement, can change a patient's risk grouping and thus the treatment approach. We hypothesized that 3-dimensional measurements of disease burden obtained from baseline F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scans, such as metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG), would more accurately risk-stratify patients. To test this hypothesis, we reviewed pretreatment PET-CT scans of patients with stage I-II HL treated at our institution between 2003 and 2013. Disease was delineated on prechemotherapy PET-CT scans by 2 methods: (1) manual contouring and (2) subthresholding of these contours to give the tumor volume with standardized uptake value ≥2.5. MTV and TLG were extracted from the threshold volumes (MTV, TLG) and from the manually contoured soft-tissue volumes. At a median follow-up of 4.96 years for the 267 patients evaluated, 27 patients were diagnosed with relapsed or refractory disease and 12 died. Both MTV and TLG were highly correlated with freedom from progression and were dichotomized with 80th percentile cutoff values of 268 and 1703, respectively. Consideration of MTV and TLG enabled restratification of early unfavorable HL patients as having low- and high-risk disease. We conclude that MTV and TLG provide a potential measure of tumor burden to aid in risk stratification of early unfavorable HL patients.

Systemic therapy given for lymphoma after the first trimester of pregnancy is likely safe and results in acceptable maternal and fetal outcomes.