How I approach B‐lymphoblastic lymphoma in children

Abstract

There are limited data pertaining to the prognostic features and optimal therapeutic approach for the 20%-25% of children with lymphoblastic lymphoma (LLy) who have the B-lymphoblastic subtype. Outcomes are favorable following treatment modeled after acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regimens, but prognosis is dismal after relapse, and there are no established features for predicting therapy response. Ongoing US and international trials will include the largest cohort of uniformly treated patients with B-LLy to date, providing an opportunity to define clinical and molecular predictors of relapse and to establish a standard of care for treatment to improve outcomes for this rare pediatric cancer.

PET scans for non‐Hodgkin lymphoma: Answering the critical questions to assess utility

“…Finally, in most clinical scenarios, despite the successes of upfront therapy, the ability to salvage relapsed disease remains a major clinical challenge, with the majority of patients failing to achieve long-term survival once relapse occurs. 10 There is therefore little utility to refine the means of identifying low-stage disease with more sensitive imaging techniques, as de-escalating therapy for perceived favorable prognostic patients may not be practical until better salvage regimens become available.…”