SUMMARY
Although it doesn’t occur frequently, central nervous system relapse in aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma carries a very dismal prognosis. Indications for the use of prophylactic strategies are clear-cut in Burkitt and lymphoblastic lymphoma. However, this remains subject to much debate in other types of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Available strategies consist of intrathecal administration of chemotherapy, the systemic use of high-dose central nervous system-penetrating cytotoxic agents or a combination of both. Nevertheless, all known methods entail a certain risk for toxicity in patients. Hence, great effort has been put in the search for risk factors and scores to identify high-risk patients who have benefit from central nervous system-prophylaxis and to exclude those who do not. This article aims to provide an overview of existing strategies, pharmacological properties and side effects of available cytotoxic agents, as well as an update on the current guidelines for the implementation of central nervous system prophylaxis in different types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, due to lack of qualitative prospective data, a golden standard in this field is still lacking.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(6):232–8)
