STAGE-II LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA WITH SCLEROSIS TREATED WITH MACOP-B

In a series of 193 patients with advanced stage diffuse large-cell lymphoma (DLCL) treated with MACOP-B, 18 (11%) were defined as having a stage II large B-cell lymphoma with sclerosis of the mediastinum. This type of lymphoma has been reported to have a highly aggressive behaviour and special histological and clinical features. In our series young women were more commonly affected and the most striking clinical feature was the presence of a bulky mediastinal mass in 81%. A comparison was made between stage II patients with DLCL with and without sclerosis. The group of patients with sclerosis had prognostic parameters significantly worse than those of the patients without sclerosis, namely, elevated LDH level and bulky disease. The complete remission rates (89% vs 76%) were similar in the two groups and, with a median follow-up of 23 months, survival and disease-free survival rates were also superimposable. MACOP-B chemotherapy has been proven effective in this subgroup of lymphoma patients with sclerosis that had thus far been reported to have a poor prognosis.