In a nutshell
The study aimed to investigate if very low-dose radiotherapy (VLDRT) was effective in treating patients with indolent (painless) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
This study concluded that this treatment can be effective in these patients.
Some background
Radiotherapy (RT) is an important treatment in managing patients with indolent NHL (iNHL) such as follicular lymphoma (FL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). The standard RT dose for iNHL is 24Gy. Reducing the dose of RT to 4Gy may reduce the side effects and treatment durations. However, the effectiveness of this VLDRT for patients with iNHL is unknown.
Methods & findings
This study involved 250 patients with FL or MZL. All patients were treated with VLDRT (4Gy). Before VLDRT 54% of patients had received another whole-body therapy such as immunotherapy or chemo-immunotherapy. They were followed up for an average of 2.4 years.
The overall response rate (ORR) to VLDRT was 90%. 68% achieved a complete response (CR; no detectable cancer cells after treatment).
Overall, 27% of patients had local progression. The local progression rate after 2 years was 25% and after 5 years was 33%. The risk of local progression was higher with tumors bigger than 6cm and with patients who did not achieve a CR by 6 months after VLDRT.
Overall, 89% of patients were alive after 2 years and 78% were alive after 5 years.
The bottom line
This study concluded that VLDRT can be effective in patients with iNHL.
The fine print
This study was based on medical records. There was no standardized follow-up schedule. Also, patients received various treatments before and after VLDRT. This might have influenced the results. A randomized study is needed to validate the conclusions.
Published By :
Blood advances
Date :
Sep 16, 2021
