Abstract

Children develop a rather different spectrum of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) than adults, consisting largely of mature B-cell-derived malignancies (Burkitt’s lymphoma & leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma), but also anaplastic large cell lymphomas, and immature malignancies derived from both cell types (T- or B-cell  lymphoblastic lymphoma). Other, rarer NHL entities are also seen and include pediatric-type follicular lymphoma, pediatric nodal marginal zone lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphomas, and non-anaplastic peripheral T-cell lymphomas. In general, NHL diagnosed in children and adolescents has a good prognosis with over 90% of children being cured, although treatment remains a combination of cytotoxic agents with significant side-effects, and children that relapse largely have a poor prognosis. With the advent of prognostic biomarkers and a deeper understanding of the biology of this class of malignancies, novel treatment approaches are being tested in collaborative trials with the hope that they will improve the outlook for children, adolescents and young adults with NHL.

Aims

Enhancement of diagnostics and therapy of children and AYAs with NHL

Assessment of outcomes and prognosis of children and AYAs with NHL

Diagnostic and therapy guidelines for rare NHL entities

Pre-existing disorders and risk of the development of NHL

Cooperation with other societies (i.e., EICNHL, other i-BFM Committees, and SIOPE)

Selected Publications

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL study on follicular lymphoma (Annals of Hematology, 2013)

 I-BFM NHL – EICNHL study on peripheral T-cell lymphoma (Annals of Hematology, 2016)

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL study on NHL in patients with pre-existing disorders (Haematologica, 2016)

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL study on marginal zone lymphoma (Pediatric Blood and Cancer, 2018)

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL position paper on malignancies in inborn errors of immunity and DNA repair disorders (Frontiers in Immunology, 2018)

Textbook on NHL in childhood and adolescence (Springer, 2019)

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL- COG study on PCNSL (Blood Advances, 2019)

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL study on SML after primary NHL therapy (Leukemia, 2020)

I-BFM NHL – I-BFM SCT – EICNHL study on HSCT in r/r mature B-NHL and LBL (Cancers, 2021)

I-BFM NHL – EICNHL consensus paper in rare NHL (Pediatric Blood and Cancer, 2020)

I-BFM-NHL – EICNHL study on primary isolated CNS PTLD (BJH, 2021)

I-BFM-NHL – EICNHL review on Leukemia and Lymphoma in AT patients (Cancers, 2022)

I-BFM-NHL – EINCHL study on B-cell precursor lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) (Cancers, 2022)

I-BFM-NHL – EINCHL – COG study on C-MYC-IGH+ B-cell prec. neopl. (Haematologica, 2022)

Ongoing clinical trials

NHL-BFM and NOPHO trial: B-NHL 2013 study in mature B-cell neoplasms

EICNHL/i-BFM trial: LBL 2018 study in lymphoblastic lymphoma

EICNHL trial: ALCL-VBL study in SR ALK-pos. ALCL