Analysis of high-risk factors and prognosis of early relapse in 104 patients with natural killer/T-cell lymphoma: a single-center retrospective study

Objective: To investigate the risk factors for early recurrence in natural killer/T-cell lymphoma(NKTCL) patients following anti-tumor therapy, and to assess the effects of various treatment approaches on the prognosis of NKTCL patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on 104 newly treated NKTCL patients. The patients were categorized into two groups:POD24 and non-POD24, based on whether the disease progressed after the first 24 months of treatment or not. Results: The POD24 group's 3-year and 5-year overall survival(OS) rates were 47.63% and 30.99%, respectively, while the non-POD24 group's rates were 63.99% and 44.58%. Elevated lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)(P=0.036), PET-CT SuvMax≥21.0(P=0.021) and failure to achieve complete response(CR) at the end of treatment(P=0.017) were associated with the early recurrence of NKTCL. The DDGP group had higher 5-year OS(P=0.048) and PFS(P=0.044) rates than the other groups(SMILE, P-Gemox, VIDP, DICE, etc.).The CR rate of radiotherapy plus chemotherapy was significantly higher than that of chemotherapy alone(P < 0.001). Conclusion: POD24 can serve as a prognostic indicator for identifying the survival of NKTCL patients, aiding in the formulation of optimal treatment strategies in clinical practice. Clinically, high-risk early relapse patients can be identified early through general clinical characteristics, allowing for intervention to improve disease prognosis. The DDGP regimen can demonstrate better long-term efficacy in newly treated NKTCL patients, while the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy can provide better short-term efficacy for localized NKTCL patients.