ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) accounts for over 80% of pediatric malignant lymphoma in Korea; the event free survival (EFS) of advanced stage NHL has been reported to be 60 to 70%. We accessed the outcome of advanced stage pediatric NHL at a single institution. METHODS: Pediatric patients who were diagnosed as stage 3 or 4 with NHL from May 1991 to June 2004 at Asan Medical Center were analyzed for outcomes according to histopathology, gender, age at present, involvement of bone marrow or central nervous system (CNS), and serum level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). RESULTS: Sixty-three patients were enrolled in this study. The head and neck were the most common primary site. The five-year EFS and overall survival (OS) were 68% and 78%, respectively. Five-year EFS for lymphoblastic, Burkitt, anaplastic large cell and diffuse large B cell lymphoma were 62%, 86%, 74% and 63%, respectively. Five-year EFS and OS for patients with LDH 500IU/L were 64% and 72% (P=0.04). There was no significant difference in EFS or OS with regard to other factors. Sixteen out of the 63 patients relapsed, and the five-year OS for those who relapsed was 44%. CONCLUSION: The outcome of patients with advanced stage NHL treated at our institution was comparable with previous reports. High serum level of LDH at diagnosis proved to be a poor prognostic factor. New effective treatment regimens are needed to improve the outcome of pediatric patients with relapsed NHL.