Whole brain radiation dose reduction for primary central nervous system lymphoma patients who achieved partial response after high-dose methotrexate based chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND

The whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) dose for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) patients who achieved complete response after induction chemotherapy was recently reduced to 23.4 Gy, but the optimal radiation dose for patients who achieved partial response (PR) is controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of reduced-dose WBRT for patients who achieved PR.

METHOD

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of PCNSL patients who were treated with high-dose methotrexate based chemotherapy. We compared treatment outcomes between the patients who received WBRT at either 36 Gy or 45 Gy.

RESULTS

The overall survival (OS) and intracranial progression-free survival (IC-PFS) was 66.3% and 42.6% at 5 years, respectively. There was no significant difference in treatment outcomes between the patients who received 36 Gy and 45 Gy, especially among patients who achieved PR. Three-year OS was 100% and 83.3% for 36 Gy and 45 Gy group, respectively (P = 0.313). Three-year IC-PFS was 60.0% and 66.7% for 36 Gy and 45 Gy group, respectively (P = 0.916).

CONCLUSION

Findings of our study might provide a possibility for dose-reduction in patients achieving PR to induction chemotherapy, which may in turn reduce delayed neurologic sequelae. However, the number of patients included in this study was too small to lead to a concrete conclusion, thus further study is needed.