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Radiotherapy in Adult Burkitt Lymphoma: A Retrospective Analysis in a Large University Center

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Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Radiotherapy is not usually a part of standard Burkitt lymphoma treatment. We aim to assess patient and treatment characteristics of Burkitt lymphoma, particularly RT use, and how they relate to survival. Retrospective cohort of adult patients treated from 2008 to 2019 in an academic hospital. All patients had biopsy-proven Burkitt’s lymphoma staged I to IV according to St. Jude’s/Murphy staging system. Patients were followed for at least six-months or until death. Forty-eight consecutive patients were selected. Median age at diagnosis was 36.9 years (18–62). Median follow-up was 7.78 months (0.5–187.5). Most were male (81.3%) and had good performance by ECOG scale on their first hematologist appointment (56.2% were ECOG 0). Median OS and PFS were 8.4 months (interquartile range Q1-Q3: 3.96–152.2) and 8.3 months (interquartile range Q1-Q3: 6.7-not reached), respectively, with 32 deaths. A total of 43 patients (89.6%) were HIV-positive and had a median CD4 + level of 193.5 cells/mm3 at diagnosis. Patients that did not present a drop in CD4 + levels after treatment had better OS than those that did (p = 0.020). 11 patients underwent radiotherapy (22.9%) who had better OS than those who did not (p = 0.015). Our findings show that adult patients living with HIV presenting Burkitt lymphoma who maintained their immune status throughout treatment had better prognosis than those who presented CD4 + cells drops. Also, patients treated with radiotherapy—either with palliative intent or as consolidation after chemotherapy—had statistically significant better OS than those not irradiated. Prospective data is warranted for radiotherapy as a consolidative and as a palliative treatment.

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Data Availability

Data on this research is available on request to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Antonio Brandão, hematologist, for his efforts and help.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Sorocaba, Sorocaba, Brazil

    Ricardo Ferrari Pereira

  2. Department of Radiotherapy, Faculdade de Medicina, Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Ricardo Ferrari Pereira & Lucas Coelho Casimiro

  3. Department of Radiology and Oncology, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 251 - Cerqueira César, Sao Paulo, SP, 01255-000, Brazil

    Geovanne Pedro Mauro

  4. Centro de Oncologia de Campinas, COC, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Geovanne Pedro Mauro

  5. Department of Radiation Oncology, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil

    Carolina Trindade Mello Medici

  6. Department of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Eduardo Weltman

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  1. Ricardo Ferrari Pereira
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  2. Geovanne Pedro Mauro
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  3. Carolina Trindade Mello Medici
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  4. Lucas Coelho Casimiro
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  5. Eduardo Weltman
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Contributions

RF and GM were responsible for study design and ethics committee approval. RF, CM and LC were responsible for data collection. RF and GM have written project’s final draft. GM were responsible for statistics analysis. EW was responsible for overall orientation and manuscript review.

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Correspondence to Geovanne Pedro Mauro.

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The authors do not have any conflict of interest to declare.

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Ethics committee authorization was obtained in the local ethics committee according to Brazilian law and the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients have given written consent to participate.

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Pereira, R.F., Mauro, G.P., Medici, C.T.M. et al. Radiotherapy in Adult Burkitt Lymphoma: A Retrospective Analysis in a Large University Center. Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus 38, 508–515 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12288-021-01495-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12288-021-01495-w

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