Prognostic value of Waldeyer's ring involvement of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP

The objective of present study was to compare the prognosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with Waldeyer's ring involvement (WR-DLBCL) to that of nodal DLBCL (N-DLBCL) without WR involvement. Between July 2004 and October 2009, medical records and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) measured by 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (F-18-FDG) positron emission tomography /computed tomography were collected from patients confirmed with DLBCL. All patients received six or eight cycles of R-CHOP therapy. One hundred and eight patients were included and categorized into WR-DLBCL and N-DLBCL groups. WR involvement and other prognostic factors were analyzed for survivals. High international prognostic index score and high MTV were independent poor prognostic factors. However, WR involvement was a good prognostic factor only in univariate analysis. This study suggests that tumor burden appeared to be more important than specific organ involvement for the prognosis of DLBCL.