title: Lack of prognostic significance of the germinal-center phenotype in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated with CHOP-like chemotherapy with and without rituximab.
abstract: The influence of the germinal-center B-cell (GCB) and the non-GCB phenotypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) on the outcome of 92 patients treated with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP-like chemotherapy, with or without rituximab was determined in this study. The differentiation between the GCB and non-GCB types was arrived at by immunohistochemistry using previously published criteria. Thirty-nine patients had the GCB and 53 had the non-GCB type of DLBCL. Forty-nine patients were treated with rituximab and chemotherapy; 43 were treated with chemotherapy alone. The GCB and non-GCB group did not differ in their international prognostic index factors and score, presence of bulky disease, or frequency of rituximab treatment. Median follow-up of the surviving patients was carried out for 37 months. There was no difference between the GCB and non-GCB groups in both overall response rates (67 vs. 70%, respectively) and estimated rates of 3-year event-free (46 vs. 49%, respectively) and overall (54 vs. 56%, respectively) survival. In addition, no differences of the outcomes were observed between the subgroups treated with or without rituximab. The patients of this study with immunohistochemically determined GCB-type DLBCL did not have an improved prognosis, irrespective of whether they had received rituximab or not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cytology, University Hospital Center Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia. iilic5@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ilić
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center, Medical School University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Zdravko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mitrović
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center, Medical School University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aurer
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center, Medical School University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bašić-Kinda
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center, Medical School University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Radman
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Radmila
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ajduković
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center, Medical School University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Labar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cytology, University Hospital Center Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Snježana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dotlić
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cytology, University Hospital Center Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Marin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nola
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018858:Germinal Center; D006801:Humans; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000069283:Rituximab; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000069283:Rituximab