A single-centre study of treatment outcomes and survival in 120 patients with peripheral T-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma

We conducted a retrospective study of treatment outcomes and survival in 120 consecutive, unselected patients with peripheral T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, presenting at a single centre over a 20-year period. Cases met the criteria of the Revised European-American Lymphoma (REAL) Classification and patients, with peripheral T-cell lymphoma of the following subtypes were included: anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma (ALCL), angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AILD), peripheral T-cell lymphoma unspecified (PTCLu), and intestinal T-cell lymphoma (ITCL). The study population consisted of 120 patients with a presenting diagnosis of peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Cases that had been previously confirmed as T-cell lymphoma at formal pathology review were identified from the lymphoma database of this institution. Staging investigations, treatment type and outcomes were taken from patient records. For each subtype, clinical characteristics, response to initial treatment, duration of response and any subsequent relapse were recorded. Overall, relapse, and progression-free survival figures were calculated. The ALCL group had the best response rate to first line treatment 19 of 22 (86%) while the AILD group had the lowest response 12 of 29 (41%). Relapse rates were PTCLu 13 of 35 (37%), ITCL 10 of 34 (29%), ALCL 6 of 22 (27%) and AILD 7 of 29 (24%). In terms of median overall survival, a significantly superior survival was demonstrated for the ALCL group (7.05 years) compared to the remaining three groups. The ALCL group had the lowest risk of death while the ITCL group had the highest risk (hazard ratio: 2.82). Five-year survival rates were estimated to be ALCL 60%, PTCLu 40%, AILD 30% and ITCL 25%. This single-centre study demonstrated different outcomes for each group with significant differences in overall survival rates. These findings support the clinical utility of the REAL lymphoma classification in respect to the PTCL subgroups included in this study.