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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1496735
This article is part of the Research Topic Rare Hematological Malignancies View all 6 articles

Survival and Prognostic Factors for Primary Lung Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma: A Retrospective Study of Data from China and the SEER Database

Provisionally accepted
Qiuyu Li Qiuyu Li 1,2*Haoyu Zuo Haoyu Zuo 2Chengyang Liu Chengyang Liu 3Jing Yang Jing Yang 4Nini Dai Nini Dai 2
  • 1 Peking University Third Hospital, Haidian, China
  • 2 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Health Science Centre, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 4 Department of Pathology, Peking University Third Hospital, Haidian, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background and aim: Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is a rare and aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that most commonly affects the nasal cavity and nasopharynx. The lung is a rare site for ENKTL involvement, and its clinical behavior and prognostic factors are not well understood. This study aimed to analyze survival outcomes and identify prognostic factors in patients with primary lung ENKTL.Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from 20 cases of primary lung ENKTL, including four patients who were treated at Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing and 16 patients were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database. Clinical characteristics, treatment modalities, and survival data were collected and analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models to identify potential prognostic factors.The study cohort included 13 male (65%) and 7 female (35%) patients with a median age of 57 years. Sex was a significant predictor of survival (P = 0.030), with female patients having lower survival rates. Other factors, including age, race, and disease stage, were not significantly associated with survival.Most patients received chemotherapy (45%) or a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy (5%), but treatment data were incomplete for 40% of the cohort. The median overall survival was poor, reflecting the aggressive nature of primary lung ENKTL.Conclusions: Primary lung ENKTL is a rare, aggressive malignancy with limited available data. In this cohort, sex was a significant prognostic factor, while other demographic and clinical variables did not show significant associations with survival. Future research should focus on understanding the molecular and immunological drivers of this disease, with an emphasis on discovering novel therapeutic approaches.Large-scale multicenter studies are needed to improve diagnostic and treatment strategies for primary lung ENKTL.

    Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus, Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, prognostic factors, SEER database, Sex

    Received: 18 Sep 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Li, Zuo, Liu, Yang and Dai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qiuyu Li, Peking University Third Hospital, Haidian, China

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