Prognostic Value of the Immunological Subtypes of Adolescent and Adult T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; an Ultra-High-Risk Pro-T/CD2(−) Subtype (original) (raw)

Simple Summary T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) is extremely rare and aggressive with no practical risk model defined. Considering the controversies over the prognostic value of T-LBL immunological subtypes, we re-evaluated 49 subsequent adult T-LBL patients treated according to the German Multicenter Study Group for Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia protocols, with 85.7% with complete remissions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study of T-LBL diagnosed by flow-cytometry of the material obtained by fine-needle aspiration biopsy. We show that (1) CD2 status and age are powerful independent prognostic factors influencing overall survival and the risk of treatment failure; (2) the early/pro-T/CD2(−) subtype is associated with extremely poor outcomes; and (3) poor outcomes in ETP vs. non-ETP are strikingly consistent with the pro-T CD2(−) subtype. The lack of CD2 expression in T-LBL emerges as a new marker of an ultra-high-risk of treatment failure. We show here ...