Table 1.
Patient characteristics
| Characteristic | All patients | GCB type | Non‐GCB type | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPIB negative | SPIB positive | P | SPIB negative | SPIB positive | P | SPIB negative | SPIB positive | P | |||||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||||
| Number of patients | 108 | 81 | 26 | 19 | 0.264 | 35 | 74 | 12 | 26 | 0.591 | 71 | 84 | 14 | 16 | 0.042 |
| Age at diagnosis, years | |||||||||||||||
| Median | 65 | 70 | 65 | 64 | 65 | 70 | |||||||||
| Range | 26–88 | 49–89 | 38–85 | 49–89 | 26–88 | 58–82 | |||||||||
| >60 | 79 | 73 | 19 | 73 | 1.000 | 27 | 77 | 6 | 50 | 0.140 | 50 | 70 | 13 | 93 | 0.102 |
| Sex, male | 72 | 67 | 19 | 73 | 0.643 | 21 | 60 | 11 | 92 | 0.071 | 49 | 69 | 8 | 57 | 0.535 |
| PS >1 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 19 | 1.000 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 1.000 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 21 | 1.000 |
| LDH >ULN | 61 | 56 | 20 | 77 | 0.074 | 21 | 60 | 11 | 92 | 0.071 | 38 | 54 | 9 | 64 | 0.563 |
| Clinical stage III or IV | 56 | 52 | 17 | 65 | 0.274 | 19 | 54 | 7 | 58 | 1.000 | 35 | 49 | 10 | 71 | 0.153 |
| Extranodal involvement >1 | 30 | 28 | 13 | 50 | 0.037 | 13 | 37 | 6 | 50 | 0.506 | 15 | 21 | 7 | 50 | 0.041 |
| Presence of “B” symptom | 24 | 22 | 8 | 31 | 0.442 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 42 | 0.118 | 18 | 25 | 3 | 21 | 1.000 |
| IPI score | 0.030 | 0.527 | 0.018 | ||||||||||||
| Low | 40 | 37 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 34 | 2 | 17 | 28 | 39 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Low–intermediate | 26 | 24 | 10 | 38 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 42 | 20 | 28 | 5 | 36 | |||
| High–intermediate | 15 | 14 | 4 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 14 | |||
| High | 27 | 25 | 9 | 35 | 10 | 29 | 3 | 25 | 15 | 21 | 6 | 43 | |||
| Leukocytosis | 12 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1.000 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 14 | 1.000 |
| Anemia | 19 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 0.783 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 0.637 | 15 | 21 | 3 | 21 | 1.000 |
| Thrombocytopenia | 18 | 17 | 4 | 15 | 1.000 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 1.000 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 21 | 1.000 |
| Total protein level <6.5 g/dL | 23 | 21 | 9 | 35 | 0.199 | 8 | 23 | 4 | 33 | 0.471 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 36 | 0.289 |
| Albumin level <3.5 g/dL | 34 | 31 | 7 | 27 | 0.813 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 0.659 | 26 | 37 | 6 | 43 | 0.765 |
| Creatinine level >1.0 mg/dL | 17 | 16 | 8 | 31 | 0.094 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 50 | 0.005 | 14 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 1.000 |
| Urine acid level >8.0 mg/dL | 8 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 0.446 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.560 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 0.084 |
| ALP >400 U/L | 11 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 0.196 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 17 | 1.000 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 0.163 |
| T‐Bil >1.0 mg/dL | 9 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 0.701 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.560 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 0.163 |
| CRP >1.0 mg/dL | 38 | 35 | 13 | 50 | 0.182 | 11 | 31 | 5 | 42 | 0.725 | 26 | 37 | 8 | 57 | 0.232 |
| sIL‐2R ≥1000 U/mL | 50 | 46 | 17 | 65 | 0.125 | 14 | 40 | 6 | 50 | 0.737 | 34 | 48 | 11 | 79 | 0.043 |
| Immunoglobulin | |||||||||||||||
| IgG >1700 mg/dL | 23 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 0.160 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0.166 | 15 | 21 | 2 | 14 | 0.725 |
| IgA >400 mg/dL | 17 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 0.197 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.560 | 13 | 19 | 1 | 7 | 0.447 |
| IgM >100 mg/dL | 29 | 27 | 4 | 15 | 0.312 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 1.000 | 25 | 36 | 3 | 21 | 0.367 |
| Immunophenotype | |||||||||||||||
| CD5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1.000 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 1.000 |
| CD10 | 29 | 27 | 11 | 42 | 0.157 | 29 | 83 | 11 | 92 | 0.659 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| BCL‐2 | 56 | 53 | 18 | 69 | 0.186 | 14 | 40 | 9 | 75 | 0.049 | 42 | 59 | 9 | 64 | 0.775 |
| BCL‐6 | 86 | 83 | 16 | 62 | 0.031 | 33 | 97 | 8 | 67 | 0.013 | 53 | 76 | 8 | 57 | 0.192 |
| MYC | 30 | 28 | 13 | 50 | 0.037 | 9 | 26 | 8 | 67 | 0.016 | 21 | 30 | 5 | 36 | 0.753 |
| MUM‐1 | 85 | 80 | 22 | 85 | 0.783 | 17 | 50 | 8 | 67 | 0.502 | 68 | 96 | 14 | 100 | 1.000 |
| EBER | 16 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 0.526 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 13 | 19 | 2 | 14 | 1.000 |
| MYC/BCL2 | 20 | 19 | 8 | 31 | 0.190 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 42 | 0.096 | 15 | 21 | 3 | 21 | 1.000 |
| COO, GCB type | 35 | 33 | 12 | 46 | 0.255 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Initial treatment | 0.748 | 0.226 | 0.897 | ||||||||||||
| R‐CHOP based regimen | 95 | 88 | 24 | 92 | 32 | 91 | 10 | 83 | 61 | 86 | 14 | 100 | |||
| DA‐EPOCH‐R | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||
| CODOX/M‐IVAC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| CHOP based regimen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Irradiation therapy | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Discontinuation of MTX | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Prednisolone only | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Others | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| N/A | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Anti‐tumor response | |||||||||||||||
| OR | 96 | 92 | 15 | 63 | 0.001 | 31 | 91 | 6 | 50 | 0.005 | 63 | 93 | 9 | 75 | 0.094 |
| CR | 89 | 86 | 12 | 50 | <0.001 | 29 | 85 | 3 | 25 | <0.001 | 59 | 87 | 9 | 75 | 0.376 |
| PR | 7 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 0.396 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 0.103 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| PD | 8 | 8 | 9 | 38 | 0.001 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 50 | 0.005 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 25 | 0.094 |
| NE | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8 | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 4 | 2 | 14 | — |
ALP, alkarine phosphatase; CODOX/M‐IVAC, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, ifosfamide, etoposide and cytarabine; COO, cell of origin; CR, complete response; CRP, C‐reactive protein; DA‐EPOCH‐R, dose adjusted‐etoposide, prednisolone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and rituximab; GCB, germinal center B‐cell; R‐CHOP, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; MTX, methotrexate; NE, not evaluable; OR, overall response; PD, progressive disease; PR, partial response; PS, performance status; sIL‐2R, soluble interleukin‐2 receptor; T‐Bil, total bilirubin; ULN, upper limit of normal. Anemia: Hemoglobin <11 g/dL. Leukocytosis: White blood cell count ≥10 000/μL. Thrombocytopenia: Platelet count <16 × 10e4/μL.