COMBINATION OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY IMPROVES THE CURE RATE IN PRIMARY EXTRANODAL LYMPHOMAS OF THE HEAD AND NECK (PLHN)

Background Since PLHN are rare, prognostic factors and the therapeutic strategy have not yet been clearly assessed. patients and Methods. Se venty-one patients with PLHN (44 stage I, 27 stage II; 54 with high-gr ade histology) received the following treatments: 5 radical surgery, 2 1 radiotherapy, 43 combined treatment (mainly chemotherapy plus radiot herapy) [CT] and 1 was not treated. Results. Disease-related survival (DRS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 84% and 69% at 5 years and 70% and 56% at 10 years. CT provided significantly better DRS and DFS than radiotherapy alone (92% and 81% vs 70% and 43% respectively), tho ugh the group receiving the CT included most of the patients with high -grade histology (37) and stage II (20). Outcome was not influenced by stage and sire of involvement (Waldeyer's ring vs non-Waldeyer's ring ). Multivariate analysis showed that favourable prognostic factors wer e age for DRS, high-grade histology and CT for DFS. Conclusions: patie nts receiving the CT fared significantly better though most of them ha d high-grade histology and stage II.