Phase II Trial Of L-Asparaginase Plus Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy Followed By Midle (methotrexate, ifosfamide, etoposide, dexamethasone, and L-asparaginase) Chemotherapy For Patients With Newly Diagnosed Stage I/II Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma, Nasal Type

The treatment of localized extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL), nasal type has shifted to non-anthracycline-based intensive chemotherapy with radiotherapy since the poor response of ENKTL to anthracycline due to the expression of a multidrug-resistant (MDR) p-glycoprotein was proven. We previously proposed concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) followed by chemotherapy which is not affected by MDR and reported a significant improvement of outcomes of localized ENKTL. Based on our accumulated data, we designed a new treatment protocol. First, we added tri-weekly administration of L-asparaginase to reduce the probability of systemic progression during CCRT. Second, we designed MIDLE (methotrexate, ifosfamide, etoposide, dexamethasone, and L-asparaginase) according to previous excellent outcomes of methotrexate-containing regimens such as SMILE (dexamethasone, methotrexate, ifosfamide, L-asparaginase, etoposide) and MLD (methotrexate, L-asparaginase, dexamethasone).

The treatment scheme of CCRT consisted of radiation 40 Gy and weekly administration of cisplatin 30 mg/m² (total: 4 doses). During the CCRT, tri-weekly intravenous (IV) administration of 4,000 IU of Escherichia coli L-asparaginase was done. The chemotherapy, MIDLE (methotrexate 3g/m² on day 1, etoposide 100mg/m², Ifosfamide 1000mg/m² on day 2-3, dexamethasone 40mg on day 1-4, and L-asparaginase 6000IU/m² IV on day 4, 6, 8, 10) was repeated every 28 days up to 2 cycles. All patients provided informed written consents and this trial was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov(NCT01238159).

Twenty-eight patients with stage IE/IIE ENKTL were enrolled, and the median age was 51 years (range, 30–77 years). 24 patients were male while only four patients were female. Twenty-two patients were stage IE and six were IIE. All patients completed CCRT, which resulted in 92.9% of overall response rate including 20 complete responses and 6 partial responses. One patient showed stable disease after CCRT whereas the other patient progressed. No grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicity was found during CCRT. However, grade 3 non-hematologic toxicities included bilirubin elevation (n = 4), mucositis (n = 1), and nausea/vomiting (n = 6). After the completion of CCRT, 23 patients entered the MIDLE chemotherapy as five patients including one disease progression and four cases of withdrawal could not receive MIDLE. All patients achieved complete response after they completed the planned two cycles of MIDLE chemotherapy whereas two patients dropped out after their first cycle due to non-hematologic toxicity. The final complete response rate of patients enrolled was 92.9% (26/28). The major toxicity of MIDLE was grade 3/4 leucopenia, and the non-hematologic toxicity included mucositis and nausea/vomiting. The hepatic toxicity-associated with L-asparaginase was frequent. However, the majority of the hepatic toxicities were grade 1 or 2. With the median potential follow-up of 25 months (95% confidence interval: 19 – 31 months), four patients relapsed.

L-asparaginase plus concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by MIDLE chemotherapy can be an effective treatment strategy with acceptable toxicity in stage I/II extranodal NK/T-Cell lymphoma, nasal type.

Kwak:celgene: Research Funding.