The role of surveillance CT scans in patients with diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The use of routine surveillance computed tomography (CT) scans in the follow-up of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma may allow the detection of early asymptomatic relapse. On this basis, CT scans are frequently included in follow-up schedules, but the utility of this investigation in this setting has never been determined. This study evaluated the effectiveness of routine surveillance CT scans performed 3 and 12 months after completion of chemotherapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who had achieved a complete response. One hundred and seventeen patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma achieved complete remission at the Royal Marsden Hospital using first line combination chemotherapy between January 1992 and January 2000. The median follow-up was 4.6 years and 35 patients subsequently relapsed. Relapse was associated with the development of new symptoms and/or signs in 86% of cases. Only 5.7% of relapses were detected in asymptomatic patients using surveillance CT scans. Routine surveillance CT scans are of limited value in detecting asymptomatic early relapse and other approaches are required in order to identify patients destined to relapse at an earlier stage.     

Improving outcomes for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most commonly occurring form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the western world. Until the mid 1990s the incidence of DLBCL increased in both sexes, across racial categories, and across all age groups except the very young, the etiology of most cases remains unknown. DLBCL is associated with an aggressive natural history, but it can be cured with combination chemotherapy regimens like cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP), which has been the mainstay of therapy for several decades. Remarkable progress has been made in understanding the biological heterogeneity of DLBCL and in improving survival for DLBCL patients with novel combinations of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Gene expression profiling (GEP) has uncovered DLBCL subtypes that have distinct clinical behaviors and prognoses, and the addition of the monoclonal antibody, rituximab, to CHOP has markedly improved outcomes. Future approaches to DLBCL management will use molecular signatures identified through GEP to provide prognostic information and to isolate therapeutic targets that are being evaluated for DLBCL patients who relapse or those with high risk disease.     

弥漫性大B细胞淋巴瘤的治疗选择

弥漫性大B细胞淋巴瘤（diffuse large B-cell lymphpma,DLBCL）是非霍奇金淋巴瘤中最常见的类型,在分子遗传学、免疫表型等方面具有高度异质性,患者临床预后也截然不同。R-CHOP方案为DLBCL标准治疗方案,如何进一步提高DLBCL疗效是近年来的研究热点。2015年美国临床肿瘤学会（ASCO）提出基于细胞起源分型进行R-CHOP+X方案治疗的策略,但这些方案相继失败。基于更加精准的分层方法,筛选出不同DLBCL亚组并进行针对性治疗,是未来DLBCL治疗的方向。此外,抗体-药物偶联物、双特异性抗体和嵌合抗原受体T细胞（chimeric antigen receptor T-cell,CAR-T）等免疫治疗近年来取得突破性进展,为DLBCL患者带来新的希望。本文针对基于精准分层的DLBCL靶向治疗、免疫治疗的最新进展及遗传学检测方法予以综述。      

Conditional survival of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

BACKGROUND: Prognosis of lymphoma patients is usually estimated at the time of diagnosis and the estimates are guided by the International Prognostic Index (IPI). However, conditional survival estimates are more informative clinically, as they consider those patients only who have already survived a period of time after treatment. Conditional survival data have not been reported for lymphoma patients. METHODS: Conditional survival was estimated for 1209 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) from the population-based LYFO registry of the Danish Lymphoma Group. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate conditional survival at 0-5 years after diagnosis. RESULTS: The probability of surviving 5 years increases with each year survived for the first 3 years after diagnosis, after which the increase is minimal. The median survival increases from 38 months for all patients to between 108 and 120 months, conditioned on survival for at least 3-5 years. The prognostic capacity of the IPI and the age-adjusted IPI was high at diagnosis, but the significance gradually declined in the first years after diagnosis. Furthermore, the prognostic impact of the individual clinical variables of the IPI was also significant at diagnosis, but 2 years after diagnosis only age had prognostic impact. Multivariate analysis of patients who survived > or = 3 years identified only age as a prognostic factor. CONCLUSION: For patients with DLBCL who have survived more than 1 year after diagnosis, the conditional survival probability provides more accurate prognostic information than the conventional survival rate estimated from the time of diagnosis.     

Venous thromboembolism in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

We conducted a retrospective record review to determine the frequency of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). All records from 1990 to 2001 of patients with the diagnosis of DLBCL at a tertiary care hospital were reviewed. Those with transformation from low-grade lymphoma, central nervous system lymphoma, HIV-related lymphoma or with incomplete records were excluded. All episodes of symptomatic VTE confirmed by imaging studies that were either present at diagnosis or occurred during initial treatment were identified. VTE occurred in 27 of 211 patients (12.8%). Stage I disease was associated with a low risk, whereas a high international prognostic index score increased risk. Of patients with VTE, thrombosis was present at diagnosis in 37% and occurred during the first chemotherapy cycle in 22% and during the first three cycles in 82%. The median survival of patients with VTE was 1.04 years [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.75 - 1.33] compared to 5.2 years (95% CI 1.8 - 8.6) for those without VTE (P = 0.038). We conclude that VTE is a frequent complication of DLBCL that occurs particularly at diagnosis and during initial therapy, and it is associated with a worse prognosis.     

Treatment of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

With the implementation of rituximab, tremendous progress has been achieved in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Nevertheless, the majority of patients with DLBCL are over the age of 65 years and the management of these patients is often suboptimal. Standard chemo-immunotherapy with curative approach should be appropriate for all elderly patients who can tolerate it. Therefore, a careful evaluation of each patient is mandatory prior to treatment allocation. R- CHOP regimen (rituximab, cyclophosphamide doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone) remains the standard of care, but special attention has to be paid to rigorous supportive care. Patients not fit enough for R-CHOP are candidates for dose-reduced therapy or other palliative strategies.     

Bronchial infiltration with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) refers to a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative diseases with a diversity of clinical courses, including involvement in another organs. NHL frequently involves the thoracic structures, and particularly the mediastinum and lung parenchyma. Several clinical reports have described bronchial-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) lymphoma as an endobronchial lesion, but endobronchial infiltration with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is extremely rare. Here, we provide the first report of this condition confirmed by a histopathological study and the presence of an immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement detected by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR).     

Emerging drugs for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most frequent non-Hodgkin lymphoma in western countries. Despite the addition of rituximab to chemotherapy, the prognosis is still poor and almost one-third of patients fail or relapse after first-line treatment. Gene expression profiling has identified three main signatures related to subgroups with different biological characteristics and responses to treatment. Novel agents targeting the oncogenic drivers of these subsets are currently under investigation with the aim of providing a tailored approach and avoiding unnecessary toxicity. Herein, we review the emerging therapies for DLBCL with a focus on preclinical and early clinical trials as well as future directions.     

Primary gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Clinical features, management, and prognosis of 185 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Background: Primary gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (PG-NHL) is common in Saudi Arabia. This has prompted the analysis of a large series of patients with PG-NHL having high-grade diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLCL) in order to define the clinical features and outcome of this disease.Patients and methods: The data of all adult patients in the series with PG-NHL having DLCL histology were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were eligible if they had biopsy-confirmed diagnoses obtained by endoscopy or following laparotomy.Results: Over a 16-year period, 185 patients with DLCL PG-NHL were identified and their data were reviewed. Patients had a median age of 54 years. In 53% of them only one initial therapeutic modality was given, while 47% were managed by a multi-modality approach. One hundred forty patients (76%), 19 (10%), and 26 (14%) attained complete remission (CR), partial remission, and no response/progressive disease, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that poor performance status and advanced stage were negatively associated with the likelihood of attaining CR. Over a median follow-up of 54 months, 118 (64%) of the patients were alive and disease-free, 17 (9%) were alive with evidence of disease, and the remaining 50 (27%) were dead. The projected 5-year and 10-year overall survivals (OS) (± SD) were 68% (± 4%) and 61% (± 6%), respectively. The Cox proportional hazards model identified the same variables of response as adverse prognostic factors of survival. Using the influence of performance status, and stage, a prognostic index was constructed to recognize three prognostically distinctive risk categories with overall survival proportions of 87%, 61%, and 45%, respectively. The unadjusted International Prognostic Index, however, failed to classify patients into prognostically meaningful risk strata. Of the 140 patients who achieved CR, the median disease-free survival (DFS) was not reached, but the predicted 5- and 10-year DFS were 82% and 75%, respectively. A multivariate analysis identified poor performance status as the only independent prognostic covariate that adversely influenced DFS. Our analysis showed that compared with single-modality management, multi-modality strategy attained significantly higher CR, and advantageous OS and DFS.Conclusions: This large series characterized the clinico-pathologic features and outcome of patients with DLCL PG-NHL. Performance status, and stage significantly influenced patient outcome. A prognostic index was developed and it identified three prognostically distinctive risk groups; however, prospective validation is warranted.     

Prognostic models for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Prognosis of DLCL patients is variable and associated with well-defined risk factors. In the past decade several pretreatment variables have been incorporated into prognostic models to predict the death risk of individual patients. The International Prognostic Index (IPI), developed in an international consensus study, has been one of the most widely accepted of these models. In our study we applied some of the major prognostic models proposed for DLCLs in a cohort of 111 patients uniformly treated with a CHOP-like regimen in order to compare their sensitivity and specificity. We also evaluated the possibility of improving the IPI with the inclusion, from among the variables analysed, of serum beta-2 microglobulin level (beta-2M). The sensitivity, reflecting the ability to predict all failures in the cohort of patients as a whole, has improved from 45 to 73 per cent when the beta-2M-IPI model is compared with IPI, without a significant loss of specificity. Based on these results, the beta-2M-IPI may be useful for identifying the subset of patients with very poor prognoses. Therefore, the use of the serum beta-2M value in addition to the IPI may help in selection of the patients with DLCL at higher risk for treatment failure, and identification of those who may require specifically tailored therapeutic approaches.     

Evolution of R-CHOP therapy for older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the fifth most common malignancy in adults in the USA. This disorder is especially relevant in the elderly patient population, as the median age of patients with this disorder is 65 years. Almost half of these disorders in older patients are of a diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) subtype. The therapy of DLBCL has undergone a renaissance in the past decade, with the addition of rituximab to standard regimens, such as cyclophosphamide– doxorubicin–vincristine–prednisone (CHOP). Over this time, there have been several large Phase III treatment trials in which the CHOP and rituximab-CHOP (R-CHOP) regimens have been prospectively compared, including three trials confined to the elderly patient population. In these trials, it has been demonstrated repeatedly that the addition of rituximab results in an improved outcome, with higher response rates and prolongation in parameters including progression-free, event-free, disease-free and overall survival. In addition, this regimen has been well tolerated, even in older patients. Based upon these data, the R-CHOP regimen has now been established as the standard for initial therapy of DLBCL in older patients with DLBCL. However, issues still remain with regard to the ideal schedule of R-CHOP administration, specifically the optimal number of cycles of therapy (six vs eight), as well as cycle length (14 vs 21 days).     

Evolution of R-CHOP therapy for older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the fifth most common malignancy in adults in the USA. This disorder is especially relevant in the elderly patient population, as the median age of patients with this disorder is 65 years. Almost half of these disorders in older patients are of a diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) subtype. The therapy of DLBCL has undergone a renaissance in the past decade, with the addition of rituximab to standard regimens, such as cyclophosphamide- doxorubicin-vincristine-prednisone (CHOP). Over this time, there have been several large Phase III treatment trials in which the CHOP and rituximab-CHOP (R-CHOP) regimens have been prospectively compared, including three trials confined to the elderly patient population. In these trials, it has been demonstrated repeatedly that the addition of rituximab results in an improved outcome, with higher response rates and prolongation in parameters including progression-free, event-free, disease-free and overall survival. In addition, this regimen has been well tolerated, even in older patients. Based upon these data, the R-CHOP regimen has now been established as the standard for initial therapy of DLBCL in older patients with DLBCL. However, issues still remain with regard to the ideal schedule of R-CHOP administration, specifically the optimal number of cycles of therapy (six vs eight), as well as cycle length (14 vs 21 days).     

弥漫大B细胞淋巴瘤125例临床病理分析

目的:分析弥漫性大B细胞淋巴瘤(DLBCL)临床特点及CHOP方案治疗结果,探讨DLBCL的临床预后因素。方法:回顾性分析125例CHOP类方案初次化疗的DLBCL患者的临床特征,结合随访资料,采用Kaplan-Meier法对生存率进行评估,进一步采用Cox回归模型对单因素分析中有统计学意义的参数进行多因素分析。结果:125例DLBCL患者中,男女比例1.3∶1,中位年龄49岁,Ann ArborⅢ~Ⅳ期患者占52.0%,LDH升高占42.1%,IPI中高危组(3~5分)占22.6%。首发为浅表淋巴结肿大60.0%,结外器官受侵72.8%。中位化疗5个周期,CR38.4%,PR 44.8%。中位随访28.2个月,中位生存期(MST)46.5个月,3和5年生存率分别为51.9%和48.9%。单因素分析显示,≤60岁、Ann ArborⅠ~Ⅱ、LDH正常、体能评分好(ECOG 0~1)I、PI评分低、未侵及骨髓、肝未受侵、接受放疗、无B症状以及缓解者是DL-BCL的良好预后因素。Cox多因素分析显示,IPI评分高(P=0.000)、未行放疗(P=0.045)和未能缓解者(P=0.049)是DLBCL的独立不良预后因素。结论:DLBCL结外侵犯发生率高,IPI评分高、未行放疗和一线治疗未能缓解者预后不良。     

性腺弥漫大B细胞淋巴瘤十例临床病理分析

目的 观察性腺弥漫大B细胞淋巴瘤(DLBCL)的临床病理及免疫表型特点,探讨其病理诊断方法及预后.方法 回顾性分析10例性腺DLBCL患者临床病理资料,包括形态学、免疫组织化学,并复习相关文献.结果10例患者中9例为睾丸DLBCL,患者年龄40~85岁,中位年龄67岁;1例为卵巢DLBCL,年龄46岁.光学显微镜下可见肿瘤细胞中等大小或偏大,弥漫一致浸润性分布,睾丸肿瘤组织可见残留的曲细精管.Hans分型以非生发中心B细胞型(non-GCB型)为主(70%,7/10).随访6~103个月,失访2例,患者1、3、5年生存例数分别为4、2、2 例.结论 原发性性腺DLBCL少见,多为non-GCB型,预后不佳,可采用手术及化疗等综合治疗,预后需多因素综合评价.