Clinical characteristics and outcome analysis of pediatric B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Experience with FAB-LMB 96 and UKCCSG B-cell NHL guidelines in a developing country.

AIM: To analyze the clinical characteristics of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients and the therapeutic efficacy of French-American-British Lymphoma Malins de Burkitt 96 and the recent United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group B-cell NHL guidelines in the tertiary care hospital of a developing country.

METHODS

Patients aged < or =18 years registered at our hospital between January 1995 and December 2006 with histologically proved B-Cell NHL were selected for retrospective analysis.

RESULTS

Of the total of 131 patients registered, 122 patients were eligible for evaluation. Of these 95 had Burkitt's lymphoma, 22 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and five had B-cell NHL not otherwise specified. The mean age was 8.4 years. Overall 42 children had a baseline weight less than the 10th centile. A total of 37 had uric acid >10 mg/dl and 55 had a lactate dehydrogenase level >500; 73 had stage III and 31 had stage IV while only four presented at stage I and 14 at stage II. The abdomen was the commonest site of disease. A total of 45 patients died; 28 due to infection, nine due to tumor lysis syndrome and six of uncontrolled disease. All deaths occurred within an average of 35 days from starting treatment. Our 5-year overall survival rate was 68 percent and our event-free survival was 55 percent.

CONCLUSION

Late presentation with advanced disease, poor nutritional status and high risk of exposure to infective agents all contribute to the high mortality in patients treated with intensive protocols in resource-poor countries.