Treatment of aggressive adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma: a retrospective study in a hospital located in HTLV-1 highly endemic area

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is a peripheral T-cell neoplasm associated with the human T-cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-1); prognosis still remains very poor. We retrospectively reviewed the treatment of 198 patients with acute-, lymphoma- and unfavorable chronic-type ATL (aggressive ATL) diagnosed from 2005 to 2014 in a hospital located in an area of Japan in which HTLV-1 is highly endemic. One-hundred forty-three, and 35 patients were treated using OPEC/MPEC and VCAP-AMP-VECP, respectively. OPEC/MPEC was mainly used until around 2010, and gradually switched to VCAP-AMP-VECP, especially for younger patients. The 2-year overall survival for patients treated by VCAP-AMP-VECP was significantly higher than that using OPEC/MPEC for patients < 70 years old (y.o.), but not for patients ≥ 70 y.o. A less intensive chemotherapy OPEC/MPEC could be performed without reducing dose intensity, even in elderly patients, and its therapeutic outcome is not inferior to that of VCAP-AMP-VECP. It is difficult to draw definite conclusion from this small retrospective study; however, OPEC/MPEC may represent an alternative option for elderly patients with aggressive ATL.