title: Presentation serum selenium predicts for overall survival, dose delivery, and first treatment response in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that serum selenium concentration at presentation correlates with dose delivery, first treatment response, and overall survival in patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients presented between July 1986 and March 1999 and received anthracycline-based chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or both. The total selenium content was retrospectively analyzed in 100 sera, frozen at presentation, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum selenium concentration ranged from 0.33 to 1.51 micromol/L (mean, 0.92 micromol/L; United Kingdom adult reference range, 1.07 to 1.88 micromol/L). Serum selenium concentration correlated closely with performance status but with no other clinical variable. Multivariate analysis revealed that increased dose delivery, summarized by an area under the curve, correlated positively with younger age (P <.001), advanced stage (P =.001), and higher serum selenium concentration (P =.032). Selenium level also correlated positively with response (odds ratio, 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43 to 0.90; P =.011) and achievement of long-term remission after first treatment (log-rank test, 4.38; P =.036). On multivariate analysis, selenium concentration was positively predictive of overall survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.76 for 0.2 micromol/L increase; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.95; P =.018), whereas age indicated negative borderline significance (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.18; P =.066).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum selenium concentration at presentation is a prognostic factor, predicting positively for dose delivery, treatment response, and long-term survival in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Unlike most existing prognostic factors in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, selenium supplementation may offer a novel therapeutic strategy in this frequently curable malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Medical Oncology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom. kim.last@cancer.org.uk
authors.forename: Kim W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Last
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cornelius
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Delves
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sieniawska
authors.forename: Jude
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fitzgibbon
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amess
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Ama Z S
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Rohatiner
authors.forename: T Andrew
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Lister
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001761:Bleomycin; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D004317:Doxorubicin; D005047:Etoposide; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002955:Leucovorin; D016014:Linear Models; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011241:Prednisone; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012643:Selenium / Q000097:blood*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014750:Vincristine
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001761:Bleomycin; D014750:Vincristine; D005047:Etoposide; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D012643:Selenium; D002955:Leucovorin; D011241:Prednisone; D008727:Methotrexate