Clinical Characteristics and Prognostic Factors of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

Kim, Tae Won; Lee, Jung Shin; Choi, Sung Jun; Choi, Jong Soo; Zang, Dai Young; Lee, Je Hwan; Kim, Sung Bae; Kim, Sang We; Suh, Cheolwon; Lee, Kyoo Hyung; Kim, Woo Kun; Kim, Sang Hee

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The advent of intense combination chemotherapy has transformed aggressive non-Hod-gkins lymphoma from a disease that was once uniformly fatal to one that is now often curable. Remission rates and survival may be improved by using intensive chemotherapy regimens. However, this more aggressive approach is inevitably associated with increased toxicity, and an accurate pretreament prognostic assessment of patients is required to guide the physician in selecting the most appropriate therapeutic regimen. Many studies have reported prognostic factors of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in western countries, but there are few reports on prognostic factors in Koreans and it is suggested that clinical characteristcs of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Korea differ from those in western countries. The purpose of this study was to illustrate clinical characteristics, prognostic factors and treatment outcome in non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Korea.
METHODS
Clinical features of 151patients (age over 15years) with non-Hodgkins lymphoma registered at Asan Medical Center from March 1989 to December 1993 were retrospectively reviewed. Prognostic factors and treatment outcome were evaluated among 121previously untreated patients. Multi variate analysis of potential pretreatment prognostic factors was performed using Coxs proportional hazards model.
RESULTS
Of the 151patients evaluated, 55% had diffuse large cell type, while low-grades were encountered in less than 1% of the patients. Extranodal involvement was noted in 76% of the patients. Cental nervous system was the commonest primary extranodal site, followed by stomach. Complete remission was achieved in 73 of 121patients (60%). The median follow-up for 121patients was 24months and the actuarial overall survival was 48% at 3years and 44N at 5years with a median overall survival of 33months. At the median followup of 32months, the actuarial 5year disease-free survival rate among 73patient with complete remission was 65% and median remission duration was not reached. Presence of systemic B symptoms and advanced clinical stages were associated with a low complete remission rate. None turned out to be associated with the remission duration. The Coxs proportional hazards model identified age above 60years, presence of systemic B symptoms and elevated LDH level as significant independent poor prognostic factors influencing overall survival.
CONCLUSION
This study reveals a low prevalence rate of the low-grades lymphoma and a higher propensity of diffuse large cell type. These results suggest that clinical characteristics of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Korea are different from those in the western countries. Our data also show that certain pretreatment clinical factors can help in predicting survival and in planning treatment.