Primary cardiac lymphoma: the management and outcome of a single-centre cohort of 22 patients

The incidence of primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is increasing, but the optimal management approach remains unclear. We assessed the clinical characteristics of a single-centre cohort with the goal of determining the optimal management approach. The treatment outcomes and prognostic factors are reported. All PCL patients were diagnosed via biopsy guided by whole-body imaging (positron emission tomography/computed tomography [PET/CT] and/or contrast-enhanced CT]. Curative therapy involved either surgery or prephase steroids followed by definitive immunochemotherapy, depending on the histological type. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS); the secondary outcome was the treatment response. Twenty-two PCL patients (14 males, 8 females; age: 59.5 ± 14.7 years [mean ± S.D.]) were histologically confirmed to have diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL; <i>n</i> = 17 [77.3%]), fibrin-associated DLBCL (FA-DLBCL) (<i>n</i> = 4 [18.2%]) and Burkitt lymphoma (<i>n</i> = 1 [4.5%]). Seven patients underwent cardiotomy (three for biopsy, four with curative intent). The median and longest follow-up periods were 16.3 and 180.0 months, respectively. The 16 patients who received curative therapy (complete response [CR], <i>n</i> = 15 [93.8%]; partial response [PR], <i>n</i> = 1 [6.2%]) showed better survival than those who did not (5-year OS: 83.0 ± 11.3% vs. 0%; hazard ratio [HR]: 0.025[95% confidence interval, CI: 0.003–0.187], <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001); 5-year PFS: 78.7 ± 11.0% vs. 0%, HR= 0.010[0.001–0.093], <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). The left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF) before and after definitive treatment was 63.6 ± 2.4% and 64.6 ± 4.5%, respectively (<i>p</i> = 0.275, power = 0.318). Extrapericardial lesions were associated with poorer survival (5-year OS: 40.0 ± 29.7% vs. 100%, <i>p</i> = 0.027; 5-year PFS:40.0 ± 21.9% vs. 100%, <i>p</i> = 0.010). Whole-body imaging is essential for diagnosis and prognosis. Curative therapy provided reasonable outcomes and survival; extrapericardial lesions were associated with a poorer treatment response.