How to manage early-stage follicular lymphoma.

How to manage early-stage follicular lymphoma. Expert Rev Hematol. 2020 Sep 01;: Authors: Cencini E, Fabbri A, Mecacci B, Bocchia M Abstract INTRODUCTION: early-stage follicular lymphoma (FL) is characterized by good prognosis and can be cured with involved-field radiotherapy (IF-RT) in most cases. PET scan is a milestone of diagnostic work-up, with the aim of identifying a truly-localized disease; however, staging in most of the studies was without PET. AREAS COVERED: we have searched in MEDLINE (inclusive dates 1994-2020) data about localized FL management. While high-quality evidence is lacking, current guidelines recommend IFRT or involved-site RT as first-line treatment in limited stages FL. Since a significant proportion of disease relapse occurred in non-irradiated areas, it has been hypothesized that occult disease could be present at diagnosis and could persist after RT, contributing to relapse. Available treatment options include watch-and-wait, chemotherapy, RT plus chemo- or chemo-immunotherapy and RT combined with rituximab (R). EXPERT OPINION: RT combined with chemotherapy could increase PFS, but a clear OS benefit is lacking and toxic effects could be unacceptable. A promising strategy is represented by R combined with IF-RT, with low relapse rate outside the radiation fields and without the toxicity reported with chemotherapy. The study of prognostic factors in PET-staged patients, the reduction of RT ...
Source: Expert Review of Hematology - Category: Hematology Tags: Expert Rev Hematol Source Type: research