Purpose: The treatment of primary lymphoma of bone (PLB) in children has traditionally included radiotherapy to the primary site; more recently, it has included systemic chemotherapy. Because of concern about the untoward effects of treatment in a disease that is curable, we attempted to determine whether radiotherapy can be safely excluded from treatment.
Patients and methods: The results of three consecutive Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) studies were examined to determine the impact on outcome of radiotherapy as adjunctive treatment in children and adolescents receiving chemotherapy for early-stage primary lymphoma of bone.
Results: From 1983 to 1997, 31 patients with localized PLB were entered onto POG studies of early-stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Between 1983 and 1986, seven patients were treated with 8 months of chemotherapy with irradiation (XRT) of the primary site. After 1986, patients were treated without XRT; four received 8 months of chemotherapy, and 20 received 9 weeks of chemotherapy. Primary sites were the femur (nine), tibia (eight), mandible (five), mastoid (one), maxilla (one), zygomatic arch (one), rib (one), clavicle (one), scapula (one), ulna (one), talus (one), and calcaneous (one). Histologic classification revealed 21 cases of large cell lymphoma, five cases of lymphoblastic lymphoma, two cases of small, noncleaved-cell lymphoma, and three cases of NHL that could not be classified further. One patient relapsed at a distant site 22 months after completion of therapy. There have been no deaths.
Conclusion: Localized PLB is curable in most children and adolescents with a 9-week chemotherapy regimen of modest intensity, and radiotherapy is an unnecessary adjunct.