Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Improved survival in primary central nervous system lymphoma up to age 70 only: a population-based study on incidence, primary treatment and survival in the Netherlands, 1989–2015

Leukemia volume 31, pages 1822–1825 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare, aggressive form of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma that exclusively affects the CNS. Although PCNSL has traditionally been associated with a sinister prognosis, recent findings from the few available prospective studies demonstrated improved outcome in PCNSL.1, 2, 3 However, the results from such studies may not reflect the actual clinical practice due to patient selection. Population-based studies complement prospective intervention studies by addressing a non-selected group of patients within a well-defined geographic area. Currently, comprehensive population-based studies that assess long-term patterns of incidence, treatment and survival in PCNSL are virtually lacking.

Here we report the outcomes of a comprehensive nationwide population-based study on incidence, primary treatment and survival among adult PCNSL patients diagnosed in the Netherlands during a 27-year period.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

References

  1. Ferreri AJ, Reni M, Foppoli M, Martelli M, Pangalis GA, Frezzato M et al. High-dose cytarabine plus high-dose methotrexate versus high-dose methotrexate alone in patients with primary CNS lymphoma: a randomised phase 2 trial. Lancet 2009; 374: 1512–1520.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Thiel E, Korfel A, Martus P, Kanz L, Griesinger F, Rauch M et al. High-dose methotrexate with or without whole brain radiotherapy for primary CNS lymphoma (G-PCNSL-SG-1): a phase 3, randomised, non-inferiority trial. Lancet Oncol 2010; 11: 1036–1047.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Omuro A, Chinot O, Taillandier L, Ghesquieres H, Soussain C, Delwail V et al. Methotrexate and temozolomide versus methotrexate, procarbazine, vincristine, and cytarabine for primary CNS lymphoma in an elderly population: an intergroup ANOCEF-GOELAMS randomised phase 2 trial. Lancet Haematol 2015; 2: e251–e259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Schouten LJ, Hoppener P, van den Brandt PA, Knottnerus JA, Jager JJ . Completeness of cancer registration in Limburg, The Netherlands. Int J Epidemiol 1993; 22: 369–376.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Dickman PW, Adami HO . Interpreting trends in cancer patient survival. J Intern Med 2006; 260: 103–117.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Villano JL, Koshy M, Shaikh H, Dolecek TA, McCarthy BJ . Age, gender, and racial differences in incidence and survival in primary CNS lymphoma. Br J Cancer 2011; 105: 1414–1418.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Shin SH, Jung KW, Ha J, Lee SH, Won YJ, Yoo H . Population-based incidence and survival for primary central nervous system lymphoma in Korea, 1999–2009. Cancer Res Treat 2015; 47: 569–574.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ho VK, Reijneveld JC, Enting RH, Bienfait HP, Robe P, Baumert BG et al. Changing incidence and improved survival of gliomas. Eur J Cancer 2014; 50: 2309–2318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Issa DE, van de Schans SA, Chamuleau ME, Karim-Kos HE, Wondergem M, Huijgens PC et al. Trends in incidence, treatment and survival of aggressive B-cell lymphoma in the Netherlands 1989–2010. Haematologica 2015; 100: 525–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kasenda B, Ferreri AJ, Marturano E, Forst D, Bromberg J, Ghesquieres H et al. First-line treatment and outcome of elderly patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL)—a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis. Ann Oncol 2015; 26: 1305–1313.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Shiels MS, Pfeiffer RM, Besson C, Clarke CA, Morton LM, Nogueira L et al. Trends in primary central nervous system lymphoma incidence and survival in the U.S. Br J Haematol 2016; 174: 417–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Panageas KS, Elkin EB, Ben-Porat L, Deangelis LM, Abrey LE . Patterns of treatment in older adults with primary central nervous system lymphoma. Cancer 2007; 110: 1338–1344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fallah J, Qunaj L, Olszewski AJ . Therapy and outcomes of primary central nervous system lymphoma in the United States: analysis of the National Cancer Database. Blood Adv 2016; 1: 112–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hoang-Xuan K, Bessell E, Bromberg J, Hottinger AF, Preusser M, Ruda R et al. Diagnosis and treatment of primary CNS lymphoma in immunocompetent patients: guidelines from the European Association for Neuro-Oncology. Lancet Oncol 2015; 16: e322–e332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fritsch K, Kasenda B, Schorb E, Hau P, Bloehdorn J, Mohle R et al. High-dose methotrexate-based immuno-chemotherapy for elderly primary CNS lymphoma patients (PRIMAIN study). Leukemia 2016; 31: 846–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the registration clerks of the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR) for their dedicated data collection. The nationwide population-based NCR is maintained and hosted by the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL).

Author contributions

AGD, JKD and JECB designed the study; AGD analyzed the data; OV provided advice on analyses and collected the data; MvdM and AGD wrote the manuscript with contributions from OV, JKD and JECB; and all authors interpreted the data, and read, commented on, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. M van der Meulen and A G Dinmohamed: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuro-Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    M van der Meulen & J E C Bromberg

  2. Department of Research, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    A G Dinmohamed

  3. Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    A G Dinmohamed

  4. Department of Hematology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    A G Dinmohamed & J K Doorduijn

  5. Department of Registration, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    O Visser

Authors
  1. M van der Meulen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A G Dinmohamed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. O Visser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J K Doorduijn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J E C Bromberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M van der Meulen.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on the Leukemia website

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

van der Meulen, M., Dinmohamed, A., Visser, O. et al. Improved survival in primary central nervous system lymphoma up to age 70 only: a population-based study on incidence, primary treatment and survival in the Netherlands, 1989–2015. Leukemia 31, 1822–1825 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2017.128

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2017.128

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links