ABSTRACT
Purpose@#The presentations and geographic incidence of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) differfrom those of adults. This study delineated the characteristics and outcomes of pediatricNHL in East Asia. @*Materials and Methods@#Medical records of 749 pediatric patients with NHL treated at participating institutions inmainland China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan from January 2008 to December 2013 werereviewed. Demographic and clinical features, survival outcomes, and putative prognosticfactors were analyzed. @*Results@#Five hundred thirty patients (71%) were male. The most common pathologic subtypes wereBurkitt lymphoma (BL) (36%). Six hundred seven patients (81%) had advanced diseases atdiagnosis. The 5-year overall survival and event-free survival (EFS) rates were 89% and 84%.The 5-year EFS rates of BL, lymphoblastic lymphoma, and diffuse large B-cell lymphomawere 88%, 88%, and 89%, and those of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and peripheralT-cell lymphoma (PTCL) were 71% and 56% (p 250 IU/mL), and advanced disease at diagnosis( stage III) were associated with poor outcomes (p < 0.05). ALCL and PTCL relapsedmore frequently than other pathologic subtypes (p < 0.001). @*Conclusion@#In East Asia, PTCL was more frequent than in Western countries, and bone marrow involvementdid not affect treatment outcome. This international study should motivate future collaborativestudy on NHL in East Asia.