A retrospective clinical study: combined treatment of chemotherapy and radiotherapy results in optimal outcome for limited-stage extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma

Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKL) is an aggressive lymphoma with higher prevalence in Asia. Optimal therapeutic strategies for early-stage ENKL remain controversial. Here, we report a retrospective clinical study with 137 patients to assess the prognostic factors and optimal treatment for localized ENKL. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 54.7% and 48.2%, respectively. Patients were grouped by the therapies received: chemotherapy alone (CT, n = 16), radiotherapy alone (RT, n = 24), and combined modality therapy (CMT, n = 97). Compared with the patients who received CT or RT alone, the patients who received CMT had more favourable OS outcomes (5-year OS, CMT: 66.9% vs. RT: 40.4% vs. CT: 0%, P<0.001). A multivariate analysis identified disease stage, lactate dehydrogenase levels and treatment strategy as prognostic factors that influenced PFS and OS. In the CMT subgroups, patients who received CT followed by RT (CRT) exhibited longer survival than patients who received RT followed by CT (RCT). In conclusion, for early-stage ENKL, CMT is the treatment modality that will most likely lead to long-term remission.