Table 1.
Patient characteristics
| Parameters | Entire patients (n = 157) | Group CR6 (n = 87) |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||
| Male | 68 (43.3%) | 37 (42.5%) |
| Age | ||
| Median | 58 | 55 |
| Range | 20–89 | 20–80 |
| >60 years | 73 (46.5%) | 35 (40.2%) |
| ECOG† performance status | ||
| ≥2 | 46 (29.3%) | 13 (14.9%) |
| Serum lactate dehydrogenase | ||
| Elevated | 76 (48.4%) | 35 (40.2%) |
| Ann Arbor stage | ||
| I | 26 (16.6%) | 15 (17.2%) |
| II | 55 (35.0%) | 34 (39.1%) |
| III | 34 (21.7%) | 23 (26.4%) |
| IV | 42 (26.8%) | 15 (17.2%) |
| Extranodal sites | ||
| ≥2 sites | 45 (28.7%) | 18 (20.7%) |
| Standard IPI‡ risk | ||
| Low | 76 (48.4%) | 53 (60.9%) |
| Low-intermediate | 26 (16.6%) | 14 (16.1%) |
| High-intermediate | 19 (12.1%) | 8 (9.2%) |
| High | 36 (23.0%) | 12 (13.8%) |
| B symptom | ||
| Present | 44 (28.0%) | 21 (24.1%) |
| Bulky lesion | ||
| Present | 33 (21.0%) | 18 (20.7%) |
| Bone marrow involvement | ||
| Present | 25 (15.9%) | 8 (9.2%) |
| Hans classification | ||
| GCB§ subtype | 44 (28.0%) | 27 (31.0%) |
| Non-GCB subtype | 69 (43.9%) | 41 (47.1%) |
| Not classified | 44 (28.0%) | 19 (21.8%) |
| Serum albumin | ||
| <3.5 g/dL | 42 (26.8%) | 17 (19.5%) |
| Treatment | ||
| 6 to 8 cycles of R-CHOP¶ with or without radiotherapy | 97 | 87 |
| 6 to 8 cycles of R-CHOP followed by ASCT†† | 11 | – |
| 3 to 4 cycles of R-CHOP followed by radiotherapy | 20 | – |
| Not be completed due to treatment-related mortality | 10 | – |
| Not be completed due to patient's refusal or lost follow-up, etc | 6 | – |
Group CR6 was made up of a subgroup of patients who: (i) had complete remission confirmed by 18flurorodeoxyglucose PET /computed tomography after six to eight cycles of R-CHOP with or without subsequent radiotherapy to a non-skeletal area; (ii) maintained complete remission for ≥6 months from the time of the last cycle of R-CHOP; and (iii) did not receive radiotherapy to the skeletal area nor consolidative autologous stem cell transplantation. ASCT, autologous 6 stem cell transplantation; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; GCB, germinal center B cell-like; IPI, International Prognostic Index; RCHOP, rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone.