Primary localized stages I and II non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the nasopharynx: a retrospective 17-year single institutional experience

The aim of this retrospective study was to define the natural history, clinicopathological findings, prognostic factors, and treatment outcome of 43 patients with localized stages I and II primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) of the nasopharynx, followed up in a single institution over a 17-year period. Forty-three (13 women and 30 men) consecutive patients with localized stages I (N = 12) and II (N = 31) primary nasopharyngeal NHL were treated in our institution between 1990 and 2007. The pathologic reports were classified according to the International Working Formulation (N = 22) or Revised European-American Lymphoma classification (N = 21). The vast majority of patients (88%) were managed with a sequential combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy mainly consisted of 4–8 (median 6) cycles of CHOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone). Involved-field radiation therapy with a median dose of 44 Gy was delivered to the primary site and entire cervical lymph nodes. The median age of the patients was 53 years (range, 6 to 86 years). The majority of the patients (70%) had high-grade histology. B-cell types represented 67% of the cases, among which diffuse large B cell was the most common histological subtype. After a median follow-up of 70 months, the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival were 58.8% and 70.6%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, age less than or equal to 30 years (hazard ratio (HR) = 5.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.69–16.76), elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase level (HR = 3.69, 95% CI = 1.43–9.51), and modified International Prognostic Index with more than or equal to two risk factors (HR = 17.99, 95% CI = 2.32–139.30) retained statistical significance. Our limited data suggest that primary nasopharyngeal NHL tends to have aggressive histology and unfavorable clinical course with poor outcome, despite a considerably localized disease at the time of presentation and high frequency of complete initial response rates. Combined modality therapy should be considered for the majority of patients with primary localized nasopharyngeal NHL.