Abstract:
Objective To study the clinicopathological features of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL) and its therapeutic effect.
Methods Fifteen elderly DLBCL patients with a mean age of 84 years admitted to our hospital from January 2003 to December 2012 were included in this study.Their clinical data including general clinical characteristics,pathological features,chemotherapy and its effect were retrospectively analyzed.
Results Of the 15 DLBCL patients who suffered from at least 2 underlying diseases with hypertension and coronary arteriosclerotic heart disease being most predominant,4 were complicated by a secondary tumor,13 had B symptoms(such as fever,night sweat and loss of body weight),10 were diagnosed as non-GCB type,1 was classified as Ann-Arbor Ⅱ and 14 were classified as Ann-Arbor Ⅲ/Ⅳ,1 had an IPI score ≤ 2 and 14 had an IPI score of 3-5.The serum LDH level was elevated in 10 patients at their first visit.The patients underwent R-CHOP-based individual chemotherapy with complete remission,partial remission,stable disease,and progressive disease achieved in 4,8,1 and 2 patients,respectively,after 4 cycles of chemotherapy.Twelve patients responded to chemotherapy.The overall survival(OS) time was 6 months in 10 patients and 1 year in 8 patients.The progression-free survival(PFS) time was 6 months in 7 patients and 1 year in 6 patients.
Conclusion DLBCL in elderly patients is usually complicated by other pre-existing diseases and diagnosed at its late stage,with non-GCB as its pain pathological subtype and a poor prognosis.Elderly DLBCL patients should receive R-CHOP-based individual chemotherapy on the basis of intensified supportive treatment.