Non-hodgkin lymphoma Staging

Stage Information for Adult NHL

Stage is important in selecting a treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans are usually part of the staging evaluation for all lymphoma patients. The staging system is similar to the staging system used for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

Common among patients with NHL is involvement of the following:

• Noncontiguous lymph nodes.
• Waldeyer ring.
• Epitrochlear nodes.
• Gastrointestinal tract.
• Extranodal presentations. (A single extranodal site is occasionally the only site of involvement in patients with diffuse lymphoma.)
• Bone marrow.
• Liver (especially common in patients with low-grade lymphomas).

Cytologic examination of cerebrospinal fluid may be positive in patients with aggressive NHL. Involvement of hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes is less common than in HL. Mediastinal adenopathy, however, is a prominent feature of lymphoblastic lymphoma and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, entities primarily found in young adults.

The majority of patients with NHL present with advanced (stage III or stage IV) disease that can often be identified with limited staging procedures such as CT scanning and biopsies of the bone marrow and other accessible sites of involvement. Laparoscopic biopsy or laparotomy is not required for staging but may be necessary to establish a diagnosis or histologic type.[1] Positron emission tomography (PET) with fluorine F 18-fludeoxyglucose can be used for initial staging and for follow-up after therapy as a supplement to CT scanning.[2] Interim PET scans after two to four cycles of therapy did not provide reliable prognostic information because of problems of interobserver reproducibility in a large cooperative group trial (ECOG-E344 [NCT00274924]) and lack of difference in outcome between PET-negative and PET-positive/biopsy-negative patients in two prospective trials [3-5] and in a meta-analysis.[6] For patients with follicular lymphoma, a positive PET result after therapy has a worse prognosis; however, it is unclear whether a positive PET result is predictive when further or different therapy is implemented.[7]

In a retrospective study of 130 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, PET scanning identified all clinically important marrow involvement from lymphoma, and bone marrow biopsy did not upstage any patient.[8] Bone marrow biopsies are required for some clinical trials and when the identification of marrow involvement would change the therapeutic plan.

Staging Subclassification System

Table 2. Anatomic Stage/Prognostic Groups

The Ann Arbor staging system is commonly used for patients with NHL.[9,10] In this system, stage I, stage II, stage III, and stage IV adult NHL can be subclassified into A and B categories: B for those with well-defined generalized symptoms and A for those without such symptoms. The B designation is given to patients with any of the following symptoms:

• Unexplained loss of more than 10% of body weight in the 6 months before diagnosis.
• Unexplained fever with temperatures above 38°C.
• Drenching night sweats.

The Lugano classification system eliminates the A and B categories for staging of NHL.[11]

Occasionally, specialized staging systems are used. The physician should be aware of the system used in a specific report.

The E designation is used when extranodal lymphoid malignancies arise in tissues separate from, but near, the major lymphatic aggregates. Stage IV refers to disease that is diffusely spread throughout an extranodal site, such as the liver. If pathologic proof of involvement of one or more extralymphatic sites has been documented, the symbol for the site of involvement, followed by a plus sign (+), is listed.

Table 3. Notation to Identify Specific Sites

Current practice assigns a clinical stage based on the findings of the clinical evaluation and a pathologic stage based on the findings made as a result of invasive procedures beyond the initial biopsy.

For example, on percutaneous biopsy, a patient with inguinal adenopathy and a positive lymphangiogram without systemic symptoms might be found to have involvement of the liver and bone marrow. The precise stage of such a patient would be clinical stage IIA, pathologic stage IVA(H+)(M+).

A number of other factors that are not included in the above staging system are important for the staging and prognosis of patients with NHL. These factors include the following:

• Age.
• Performance status (PS).
• Tumor size.
• Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) values.
• The number of extranodal sites.

To identify subgroups of patients most likely to relapse, an international prognostic index was compiled for 2,031 patients with aggressive NHL.[12] After validation by several cancer centers,[13,14] the major cooperative groups have used this index in the design of new clinical trials. The model is simple to apply, reproducible, and predicts outcome even after patients have achieved a complete remission. The model identifies five significant risk factors prognostic of overall survival (OS):

• Age (<60 years vs. >60 years).
• Serum LDH (normal vs. elevated).
• PS (0 or 1 vs. 2–4).
• Stage (stage I or stage II vs. stage III or stage IV).
• Extranodal site involvement (0 or 1 vs. 2–4).

Patients with two or more risk factors have a less than 50% chance of relapse-free survival and OS at 5 years. This study also identifies patients at high risk of relapse based on specific sites of involvement, including bone marrow, central nervous system, liver, lung, and spleen. The bcl-2 gene and rearrangement of the myc gene or dual overexpression of the myc gene, or both, confer a particularly poor prognosis.[15-18] Patients at high risk of relapse may benefit from consolidation therapy or other approaches under clinical evaluation.[12] Molecular profiles of gene expression using DNA microarrays may help to stratify patients in the future for therapies directed at specific targets and to better predict survival after standard chemotherapy.[19,20]

References

1. Mann GB, Conlon KC, LaQuaglia M, et al.: Emerging role of laparoscopy in the diagnosis of lymphoma. J Clin Oncol 16 (5): 1909-15, 1998. [PUBMED Abstract]
2. Barrington SF, Mikhaeel NG, Kostakoglu L, et al.: Role of imaging in the staging and response assessment of lymphoma: consensus of the International Conference on Malignant Lymphomas Imaging Working Group. J Clin Oncol 32 (27): 3048-58, 2014. [PUBMED Abstract]
3. Horning SJ, Juweid ME, Schöder H, et al.: Interim positron emission tomography scans in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: an independent expert nuclear medicine evaluation of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group E3404 study. Blood 115 (4): 775-7; quiz 918, 2010. [PUBMED Abstract]
4. Moskowitz CH, Schöder H, Teruya-Feldstein J, et al.: Risk-adapted dose-dense immunochemotherapy determined by interim FDG-PET in Advanced-stage diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma. J Clin Oncol 28 (11): 1896-903, 2010. [PUBMED Abstract]
5. Pregno P, Chiappella A, Bellò M, et al.: Interim 18-FDG-PET/CT failed to predict the outcome in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated at the diagnosis with rituximab-CHOP. Blood 119 (9): 2066-73, 2012. [PUBMED Abstract]
6. Sun N, Zhao J, Qiao W, et al.: Predictive value of interim PET/CT in DLBCL treated with R-CHOP: meta-analysis. Biomed Res Int 2015: 648572, 2015. [PUBMED Abstract]
7. Pyo J, Won Kim K, Jacene HA, et al.: End-therapy positron emission tomography for treatment response assessment in follicular lymphoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Cancer Res 19 (23): 6566-77, 2013. [PUBMED Abstract]
8. Khan AB, Barrington SF, Mikhaeel NG, et al.: PET-CT staging of DLBCL accurately identifies and provides new insight into the clinical significance of bone marrow involvement. Blood 122 (1): 61-7, 2013. [PUBMED Abstract]
9. Lymphoid neoplasms. In: Edge SB, Byrd DR, Compton CC, et al., eds.: AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. 7th ed. New York, NY: Springer, 2010, pp 599-628.
10. National Cancer Institute sponsored study of classifications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas: summary and description of a working formulation for clinical usage. The Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Pathologic Classification Project. Cancer 49 (10): 2112-35, 1982. [PUBMED Abstract]
11. Cheson BD, Fisher RI, Barrington SF, et al.: Recommendations for initial evaluation, staging, and response assessment of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: the Lugano classification. J Clin Oncol 32 (27): 3059-68, 2014. [PUBMED Abstract]
12. A predictive model for aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The International Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Prognostic Factors Project. N Engl J Med 329 (14): 987-94, 1993. [PUBMED Abstract]
13. Salles G, de Jong D, Xie W, et al.: Prognostic significance of immunohistochemical biomarkers in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a study from the Lunenburg Lymphoma Biomarker Consortium. Blood 117 (26): 7070-8, 2011. [PUBMED Abstract]
14. Advani RH, Chen H, Habermann TM, et al.: Comparison of conventional prognostic indices in patients older than 60 years with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP in the US Intergroup Study (ECOG 4494, CALGB 9793): consideration of age greater than 70 years in an elderly prognostic index (E-IPI). Br J Haematol 151 (2): 143-51, 2010. [PUBMED Abstract]
15. Cuccuini W, Briere J, Mounier N, et al.: MYC+ diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is not salvaged by classical R-ICE or R-DHAP followed by BEAM plus autologous stem cell transplantation. Blood 119 (20): 4619-24, 2012. [PUBMED Abstract]
16. Johnson NA, Slack GW, Savage KJ, et al.: Concurrent expression of MYC and BCL2 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone. J Clin Oncol 30 (28): 3452-9, 2012. [PUBMED Abstract]
17. Green TM, Young KH, Visco C, et al.: Immunohistochemical double-hit score is a strong predictor of outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone. J Clin Oncol 30 (28): 3460-7, 2012. [PUBMED Abstract]
18. Horn H, Ziepert M, Becher C, et al.: MYC status in concert with BCL2 and BCL6 expression predicts outcome in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Blood 121 (12): 2253-63, 2013. [PUBMED Abstract]
19. Rosenwald A, Wright G, Chan WC, et al.: The use of molecular profiling to predict survival after chemotherapy for diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma. N Engl J Med 346 (25): 1937-47, 2002. [PUBMED Abstract]
20. Abramson JS, Shipp MA: Advances in the biology and therapy of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: moving toward a molecularly targeted approach. Blood 106 (4): 1164-74, 2005. [PUBMED Abstract]

Source:

https://www.cancer.gov/types/lymphoma/hp/adult-nhl-treatment-pdq#section…