Background: Optimal management of patients with localized head and neck extranodal lymphoma remains controversial, both because of the lack of randomized studies and because of the heterogenous grouping of most reported series.
Materials and methods: Patients treated at our institution between 1974 and 1993 for extranodal head and neck lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed and classified. The therapy and outcome of 92 patients classified as having an intermediate (42) and high (50) level of malignancy according to the Working formulation and in stage I (39) or II (53) of the Ann Arbor Staging System were considered. Fifty-three patients (57.6%) received chemotherapy alone, and 39 (42.4%) combined radiochemotherapy.
Results: The different treatment schedules allowed these patients to achieve global actuarial 5-year overall, event-free, and relapse-free survival rates of 81.2%, 78.1% and 89.3%, respectively. The patients that received combined modality treatment reported actuarial 10-year event-free and relapse-free survival rates of 65.3% and 90.7%, respectively, with a suggestion of decreased treatment-related morbidity compared to patients treated with chemotherapy.
Conclusions: Our results underscore the important treatment role of combined radiochemotherapy for early stage intermediate and high grade lymphomas.