Table 1.

Initial characteristics of 234 patients prior to receiving FCR treatment

Variable	No of patients	Total patients	%
Age ≥ 60 years	127	234	54
Male sex	171	234	73
Smoking history	81	234	35
ALC≥100 ×109/L	92	232	40
LDH≥1 X normal	110	230	48
β2-microglobulin ≥3.5g/dL	133	230	58
RAI stage III/IV	71	234	30
Cytogenetics
Normal	139	219	64
Abnormal	80	219	36
FISH
17p deletion	24	215	10
11q deletion	49	215	23
Trisomy 12	34	215	16
Negative	42	215	19
13q deletion	64	215	30
IGHV unmutated	116	181	64
Zap70-positive *	112	180	62
CD38-positive	91	234	39
Previous cancers	93	234	40
Previous chemotherapy / radiotherapy	15	93	16
Type of frontline chemotherapy
FCR **	207	234	88
CFAR	25	234	11
FCMR	3	234	1
Number of FCR cycles
1-3	38	232	16
4-6	194	232	84

^*Zap-70 in BM by immunohistochemistry (IHC);

^**FCR based therapy includes: FCR, FCR3, FCR-GM;

Abbreviations: LDH, Lactate dehydrogenase; ALC, absolute lymphocyte count; IGHV, Immunoglobulin variable heavy chain; FISH, Fluorescence in situ hybridization; ZAP-70, Zeta-chain associated protein kinase 70; CFAR: Cyclophosphamide, Fludarabine, Alemtuzumab, Rituximab; FCMR: Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide, Mitoxantrone, Rituximab