Outcomes in primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type.
Authors: Robert M. Kraft, Stephen M. Ansell, Jose Caetano Villasboas, N. Nora Bennani, Yucai Wang, Thomas Matthew Habermann, Gita Thanarajasingam, David James Inwards, Luis F. Porrata, Ivana N. M. Micallef, Thomas E. Witzig, Carrie A. Thompson, Patrick B. Johnston, Grzegorz S. Nowakowski, Yi Lin, Jonas Paludo
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2021)

e19547 Background: Primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type (PCDLBCL, LT) is a rare, aggressive lymphoma characterized by skin involvement predominantly in the lower extremities, and is associated with an inferior prognosis compared to other primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas. Immunochemotherapy with or without involved-field radiation therapy (IFRT) is considered standard, front-line therapy. Interestingly, over-expression of PD-L1/PD-L2 has been shown in a high proportion of PCDLBCL, LT cases, but efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in relapsed/refractory, PCDLBCL, LT has not been thoroughly studied. Therefore, we describe the outcomes of 1) immunochemotherapy with and without IFRT as front-line treatment of PCDLBCL, LT, and 2) ICIs in the relapsed/refractory setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with PCDLBCL, LT seen at Mayo Clinic from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2020. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, we calculated progression-free survival (PFS), duration of response (DOR), and overall survival (OS) in patients who received front-line R-CHOP with and without IFRT, and salvage ICI therapy for relapsed/refractory disease. Results: A total of 28 patients with PCDLBCL, LT were identified. The median age at diagnosis was 71.6 years (range 48.0-91.7), 50% (N = 14) were male, and 78.6% (N = 22) had disease involvement of the lower extremities at diagnosis. For front-line treatment, 31.2% (N = 9) received R-CHOP with IFRT, and 31.2% (N = 9) received R-CHOP without IFRT. The median PFS in patients treated with R-CHOP plus IFRT was 41.8 months [95% CI: 30.2-69.6] compared to 13.7 months [95% CI: 10.7-27.7; p= 0.01] in those treated with R-CHOP without IFRT. The median OS in patients treated with R-CHOP plus IFRT was 74.7 months [95% CI: 53.0-108.6] compared to 38.2 months [95% CI: 26.0-80.4; p= 0.14] in those treated with R-CHOP without IFRT. Patient and disease characteristics were similar among these two groups. ICIs were used in 17.9% (N = 5) of patients with relapsed/refractory, PCDLBCL, LT, and these patients had received a median of three (range 2-10) prior systemic therapies. The overall response rate was 60% as three patients treated with ICIs achieved a complete response, and the other two patients showed no clinical response. The median DOR from ICIs was 23.0 months [95% CI: 3.6-26.0]. The median PFS from ICI therapy was 10.2 months [95% CI: 3.6 – not reached]. Only one of the five patients was noted to have a mild side effect from ICI treatment (elevated alkaline phosphatase, grade 1). Conclusions: R-CHOP with IFRT was associated with a longer median PFS compared to R-CHOP without IFRT as front-line therapy for PCDLBCL, LT. Furthermore, ICIs may have a role in treating relapsed/refractory disease as reasonable activity in heavily pre-treated patients and a favorable safety profile were observed in this study. Further studies would be of benefit to confirm our findings.