Malignant non hodgkin lymphoma in adolescents and young adults / Christine Noshy Habib Wissa ; Supervised Mohammed Ali Morsi Abdeen , Hala Abdelbadea Nayel , Raafat Ragaie Abdelmalek

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Oncology (Clinical)

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in the adolescents and young adults (AYA) population. Unlike improvements seen in younger and older age groups, survival rates for young people (AYAs) with some types of cancer have not improved in almost 30 years. Non-Hodgkin (NHL) and Hodgkin (HL) lymphomas are represented prominently in the adolescent and young adult (AYA) population. Although age-adjusted incidence rates of NHL increase with age, the more aggressive lymphomas are seen more commonly in the younger population with a transition to low-grade, indolent subtypes as the population ages. Objectives: The current retrospective study compares the clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment results of NHL in AYA patients (older than 15 to younger than 40 years old) compared with older adult patients (equal to or older than 40 to younger than 60 years). Results: 5 years DFS 75% for < 40 years vs 40% for more than 40 years with P value = 0.365 Conclusion: The five years free survival proved to be worse than the international data in both age groups, most probably due to unavailability of rituximab. The results in comparison between AYA patients and older patients were more or less equal , regarding the relapse rate and disease free survival .This group of young adults are still in no man{u2019}s land .we recommend a prospective trial for this group with pediatric protocols seeking more chances for better response

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