Single Centre Experience of Managing Patients with Double Hit Lymphoma

Double or triple hit Lymphomas (DHL) are characterized by translocation rearrangements of C-MYC with the addition of BCL2 and/or BCL 6, which are associated with a poor outcome due to their genetic complexity . Clinical controversies remain regarding the optimum treatment for patients with DHL due to lack of consensus regarding the optimal management and also age and frailty being a significant obstacle, limiting the role of dose-escalated or intensified therapy. Literature review suggests overall median survival for DHL patients is from 0.2-1.5years². We report our single centre experience of treating this patient group.

Materials & Methods:

This single centre retrospective study evaluated the outcome of DHL patients who underwent various lines of treatment including standard R-CHOP chemotherapy, more intensive chemotherapy regimens and allogeneic stem cell transplantation (AlloSCT). Diagnosis of DHL was as per the 2008 WHO classification. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS 23^®.

Results:

Our study included fourteen patients (9M; 5F) with a median age 60.5 years (range 33-65). 4 patients had stage 2B disease, 3 had stage 3B and 7 had 4B disease. R-CHOP chemotherapy only was commenced as first line treatment in 4 patients, R-CHOP plus intrathecal chemotherapy was given to 2 patients and 1 patient received R-CEOP. 5 patients received intensive chemotherapy with R-CODOX-M/R-IVAC where as one patient received EPOCH in a different centre prior to transfer. 1 patient received radiotherapy only.

10 patients were in complete remission following first line chemotherapy. One patient progressed following first line treatment and was managed palliatively. One patient relapsed whilst awaiting AlloSCT and was given mini-DEX BEAM salvage chemotherapy prior to transplant. One patient had a partial response to first line treatment and was given further rituximab but had progressive disease and was also managed palliatively. One patient had progressive disease and received GDP chemotherapy.

8 patients underwent AlloSCT with BEAM Alemtuzumab conditioning with cyclosporine as GvHD prophylaxis (6 unrelated and 2 sibling donors). The mean overall survival from starting treatment for DHL for the non-transplant cohort was 18.5 months (Range: 0.5 to 36.5) and the median OS was 8.3 months (Range: 4 to 12.6) as compared to mean overall survival of 44.2 months (Range: 22.2 to 66.35) in the transplant cohort with median overall survival not reached (p value: 0.46, Log Rank). In our patients, there was no progression after 3 months from Allo SCT. One patient progressed 6 weeks and died 8 weeks post AlloSCT, whereas two patients progressed 12 weeks and died 14 weeks post AlloSCT. In the cohort who did not undergo AlloSCT, 3 patients have died and two remain in complete remission and 1 patient is undergoing salvage chemotherapy for refractory disease.

Conclusion:

Our single centre experience of limited number of patients with DHL suggests AlloSCT as a consolidative treatment in first complete remission, may offer survival benefit as compared to no consolidation. Our data also shows no progression of DHL 3 months post AlloSCT highlighting the potential graft versus lymphoma effect. This requires further evaluation in a larger cohort to confirm our preliminary findings and identify potential biomarkers of best response. Confirmation of this result in larger cohort will identify the role of AlloSCT in DHL and enable to reach consensus in the DHL management.