Vinblastine Based Short-Pulse B-Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Type Chemotherapy (CT) with Maintenance Therapy Is Highly Efficacious Treatment for Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL).

OBJECTIVE: ALCL is a rare but biologically well characterized disorder. Though ALCLs are highly chemo-sensitive, 20% to 40% of patients develop recurrent disease. No standard therapeutic regimen exists for the treatment of ALCL. The objective of the present study is to characterize the clinical features and treatment response of children and young adults with ALCL in India

Methods: 30 patients of ALCL who were previously untreated were enrolled between Jan 1991 and July 2006. Treatment consisted of eight alternating cycles of two regimens A and B. Regimen A included Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, Vincristine and Cytosine-arabinoside. Regimen B included Etoposide, Vincristine, Methotrexate (standard dose), and Ifosfamide with Mesna. Intrathecal Methotrexate and Cytosine Arabinoside were administered in the first 4 cycles (MCP 842.

Results: The median age was 14 years (range 2.6 to 31 years). The male to female ratio was 2.8:1. Common predominant disease sites included: Abdomen-27%; Nodes-33%; Bones-17%, Head and Neck-10%; and Mediastinum-13%. Four patients (13%) presented with stage I disease, 7 (23%) with stage II, 14 (47%) with stage III and 5 (17%) with stage IV. The response rate was 93% for the 29 evaluable patients (1 still on second cycle), with complete response in 86%. There were 6 relapses (20.7%) with majority (83%) of relapses showing newer sites of involvement. For the whole group, the projected 10 year EFS was 52.7% and OS was 73.3%. The EFS analyzed stage wise was 66.7% and 44.1% for localized Stages (I and II) and advanced Stages (III and IV) respectively. For the 20 post-2000 patients, the probability of 5 yr. OS is 100% (Stg I and II) and 84.4% (Stg III and IV) (3 relapsed patients have received Vinblastine based chemotherapy and are in subsequent remission). Most importantly, the EFS so far is 100% for all 11 patients treated with Vinblastine and maintenance therapy.

Conclusions: Most Indian patients with ALCL present in advanced stages with abdomen and nodes as the dominant primary sites of disease. Although, in the past, initial treatment responses were good, long term survival was suboptimal due to relapses. Simple addition of Vinblastine and oral maintenance may improve EFS in ALCL without the need of adding high dose or more aggressive CT. This protocol would be especially useful to treat both children and adults with ALCL in countries with limited resources & supportive care.