Children and adolescents with follicular lymphoma have an excellent prognosis with either limited chemotherapy or with a "watch and wait" strategy after complete resection

Data on clinical features and outcome in pediatric follicular lymphoma (pFL) are scarce. The aim of this retrospective study including 13 EICNHL and/or i-BFM study group members was to assess clinical characteristics and course in a series of 63 pFL patients. pFL was found to be associated with male gender (3:1), older age (72 % ≥10 years old), low serum LDH levels (<500 U/l in 75 %), grade 3 histology (in 88 %), and limited disease (87 % stage I/II disease), mostly involving the peripheral lymph nodes. Forty-four out of sixty-three patients received any polychemotherapy and 1/63 rituximab only, while 17/63 underwent a "watch and wait" strategy. Of 36 stage I patients, 30 had complete resections. Only one patient relapsed; 2-year event-free survival and overall survival were 94 ± 5 and 100 %, respectively, after a median follow-up of 2.2 years. Conclusively, treatment outcome in pFL seems to be excellent with risk-adapted chemotherapy or after complete resection and an observational strategy only.

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