Abstract: Objective  To compare the clinical efficacy and adverse effects of pegaspargase (PEG-ASP) and L-asparaginase (L-ASP) in the treatment of NK/T-cell lymphoma. Methods  A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 46 patients with NK/T-cell lymphoma in Department of Oncology of Hospital of Qingdao Commercial Staff from September 2009 to July 2015. There were 24 patients treated by PEG-ASP combined with GDP (gemcitabine+cisplatin+dexamethasone) as PEG-ASP group, and 22 patients treated by L-ASP combined with GDP as L-ASP group. The efficacy and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results  In the PEG-ASP group, there were 11 patients with complete remission, 7 patients with partial remission, and the complete remission rate and objective response rate were 45.83% and 75.00%. In the L-ASP group, there were 9 patients with complete remission, 6 patients with partial remission, and the complete remission rate and objective response rate were 40.91% and 68.18%. There was no significant difference between the two groups in objective response rate (χ2=0.263, P=0.608). Adverse effects such as myelosuppression (25.00% vs. 22.73%, χ2=0.033, P=0.857), coagulopathy (8.33% vs. 9.10%, χ2=0.008, P=0.927), liver and renal dysfunction (8.33% vs. 18.18%, χ2=0.982, P=0.322), gastrointestinal reaction (41.67% vs. 40.91%, χ2=0.003, P=0.958) were similar in the PEG-ASP group and L-ASP group. But the risk of allergic reaction incurred by PEG-ASP was much lower than L-ASP (4.17% vs. 36.36%), with a significant difference (χ2=7.561, P=0.006). Moreover, the PEG-ASP group had a shorter duration of hospitalization ［(10.04±1.63)d］ than the L-ASP group ［(13.09±2.76)d］, with a significant difference (t=-4.612, P=0.000). Conclusion  The efficacy of PEG-ASP and L-ASP in the treatment of NK/Tcell lymphoma is similar, but the rate of allergic reaction of patients treated with PEG-ASP is significantly lower, and the hospitalization time is significantly shorter, which is worthy of further clinical application.

Key words: Lymphoma, extranodal NKTcell; Asparaginase, Treatment outcome, Drug toxicity, Pegaspargase