Prediction of survival by applying current prognostic models in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP followed by autologous transplantation

BACKGROUND Among the currently available prognostic models for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), we investigated to determine which is most adoptable for DLBCL patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) followed by upfront autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT). METHODS We retrospectively evaluated survival differences among risk groups based on the International Prognostic Index (IPI), the age-adjusted IPI (aaIPI), the revised IPI (R-IPI), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network IPI (NCCN-IPI) at diagnosis in 63 CD20-positive DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP followed by upfront auto-SCT. RESULTS At the time of auto-SCT, 74.6% and 25.4% of patients had achieved complete remission and partial remission after R-CHOP, respectively. As a whole, the 5-year overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 78.8% and 74.2%, respectively. The 5-year OS and PFS rates according to the IPI, aaIPI, R-IPI, and NCCN-IPI did not significantly differ among the risk groups for each prognostic model (P-values for OS: 0.255, 0.337, 0.881, and 0.803, respectively; P-values for PFS: 0.177, 0.904, 0.295, and 0.609, respectively). CONCLUSION There was no ideal prognostic model among those currently available for CD20-positive DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP followed by upfront auto-SCT.