L-asparaginase-based treatment of 15 western patients with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma and leukemia and a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND Extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type, and aggressive NK-cell leukemia are highly aggressive diseases with a poor outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS We report a multicentric French retrospective study of 15 patients with relapsed, refractory, or disseminated disease, treated with L-asparaginase-containing regimens in seven French centers. Thirteen patients were in relapse and/or refractory and 10 patients were at stage IV. RESULTS All but two of the patients had an objective response to L-asparaginase-based treatment. Seven patients reached complete remission and only two relapsed. CONCLUSION These data, although retrospective, confirm the excellent activity of L-asparaginase-containing regimens in refractory extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma and aggressive NK-cell leukemia. Therefore, L-asparaginase-based regimen should be considered as a salvage treatment, especially for patients with disseminated disease. First-line L-asparaginase combination therapy for extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma and aggressive NK-cell leukemia should be tested in prospective trials.