Cancer Research and Treatment

Original Article

Hematologic malignancy

Pembrolizumab for Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma in Korea: Ji Yun Lee, Ji Hyun Kwon, Joon Young Hur, Jun Ho Yi, Ji Hyun Lee, Hyungwoo Cho, Young Rok Do, Jae-Cheol Jo, Hye Jin Kang, Yougil Koh, Won Sik Lee, Sung Nam Lim, Sang Eun Yoon, Seok Jin Kim, Jeong-Ok Lee; Cancer Res Treat. 2024;56(2):681-687. Published online November 10, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2023.1042

Purpose
Programmed death-1 blockade with pembrolizumab has shown promising activity in relapsed/refractory (R/R) extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL), but studies are limited, with small patient numbers.
Materials and Methods
Thirteen institutes involved with the Consortium for Improving Survival of Lymphoma, a Korean lymphoma study group, collected the clinical data of 59 patients treated with pembrolizumab as salvage therapy between 2016 and 2022.
Results
The median age of the patients was 60 years (range, 22 to 87 years), and 76.3% had advanced Ann Abor stage disease. Pembrolizumab was given to 35.6%, 40.7%, and 23.7% of the patients as second-, third-, and fourth- or higher-line chemotherapy, respectively. The overall response rate was 40.7%, with 28.8% having complete response. The estimated 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival rates for all patients were 21.5% and 28.7%, respectively; for responders, the rates were 53.0% and 60.7%, respectively. Although not statistically significant, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥ 2 (hazard ratio [HR], 1.91; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.93 to 3.94; p=0.078) and stage III or IV disease (HR, 2.59; 95% CI, 0.96 to 6.96; p=0.060) were associated with a trend toward shorter PFS in multivariate analysis. Grade 3 or 4 adverse events (AEs) were noted in 12 patients (20.3%); neutropenia (10.2%), fatigue (6.8%), and pneumonitis (5.1%) were most common AEs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while pembrolizumab had a modest effect on patients with R/R NKTCL, it may be a useful salvage therapy for patients with localized disease and good performance status.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

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