Prognostic factors in patients with early stage non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of the head and neck treated with definitive irradiation.

Between 1974 and 1989, 58 patients with clinical Stages I and II non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of the head and neck were treated with radiation at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Forty-one treated with radiotherapy alone form the basis for this retrospective analysis of outcome and prognostic factors. With a mean radiation dose of 4400 cGy, the 5-year actuarial local control rate is 92%. Only one patient failed within an irradiated field. The 5-year actuarial survival and relapse-free survival rates are 85% and 54%, respectively. In a univariate analysis, poor survival was significantly correlated with involvement of Waldeyer's ring, postoperative tumor size greater than 3 cm, and greater than two involved lymph nodes and extranodal sites (p less than 0.02). No such correlations were seen for stage, histologic grade, the presence of extranodal disease, or any of the other parameters that were examined. Relapse free survival was significantly correlated only with the total of the number of involved nodes and extranodal sites. Patients with one or two involved nodes and sites had a 68% chance of remaining disease-free at 5 years compared to 0% for patients with greater than two (p = .02). Again, significant trends were not seen for the other parameters analyzed. These data demonstrate excellent local control, survival, and relapse-free survival using radiation alone with doses of 3000-5000 cGy. In our group of clinically staged patients preselected for treatment with radiation alone, the total of the number of involved nodes and extranodal sites, involvement of Waldeyer's ring, and tumor size after resection correlated strongly with relapse-free survival and overall survival. In patients with early stage non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of the head and neck, initial management with external beam radiotherapy should be considered in particular for those with one or two involved nodes and extranodal sites that are less than 3 cm following resection and that do not involve Waldeyer's ring.