Clinical efficacy of pegaspargase plus GEMOX regimen for initial treatment of nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pegaspargase plus GEMOX (pegaspargase, gemcitabine, oxaliplatin) regimen in the initial treatment of nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma. Methods: Twelve preliminarily diagnosed nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma patients in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from June 2011 to March 2012 were analyzed. All patients took the pegaspargase plus GEMOX regimen (gemcitabine 800-1 000 mg/m on days 1 and 8, oxaliplatin 130 mg/m on day 1, and pegaspargase 2 500 IU/m on day 2), every three weeks for one cycle. The efficacy and toxicity of the regimen were evaluated in the follow-up treatment. Results: After two cycle treatments, 1 patient dropped out of treatment because of acute pancreatitis; the remaining 11 patients had response, in which 1 achieved complete response , 7 had partial response, 2 had stable disease, and 1 had progressive disease. The objective response rate was 72.7%, and the disease control rate was 90.9%. The 2-year overall survival rate was 90.9%. With median 6-cycle P-GEMOX regimen treatment, 81.8% of 11 patients presented side effects, primarily myelosuppression and hepatic dysfunction. Conclusion: Pegaspargase plus GEMOX regimen showed high efficacy on the initial treatment of nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma patients, but the incidence of adverse effect was still high.