ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Treatment of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) with CHOP or CHOP-like chemotherapy has resulted in poor long-term outcomes. High-dose chemotherapy followed by ASCT has been applied for this dreaded disease. However, the efficacy is still controversial. T-LBL is considered the nodal/extranodal presentation of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Favorable results with VPDL chemotherapy have been reported in the setting of adult lymphoblastic leukemia. We, therefore, treated T-LBL patients with modified VPDL chemotherapy and compared the outcomes with those achieved using upfront ASCT. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of 24 T-LBL patients treated either with upfront ASCT (n=11) or VPDL chemotherapy without ASCT (n=13) between January 1996 and October 2005. RESULTS: The median follow-up duration for surviving patients was 17 months (range, 5~109 months). The two-year event-free survival (EFS) rates were 83.1% in the VPDL group and 27.3% in the upfront ASCT group (P=0.008). The two-year overall survival (OS) rates were 83.9% in the VPDL group and 27.3% in the upfront ASCT group (P=0.006). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that VPDL chemotherapy is very effective and may be superior to upfront ASCT in the treatment of T-LBL patients.