Abstract:
Objective:To analyze the prognostic factors of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and to investigate the prog -nostic value of peripheral blood absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) at admission for patients with NHL. Methods:Clinical fea -tures and follow-up data of 108 patients with pathologically confirmed NHL seen in our hospital between January2000and January 2008 were reviewed. SPSS 14.0 package was used for statistical analysis. Kaplan-Meier was applied to assess the survival probability. All parameters statistically significant concluded by univariate analysis were then computed as co-variates for multivariate analysis with Cox regression model. Results: The ratio of males to females was approximately 1.5:1. The median age of patients was 48years. Before treatment, the Ann Arbor clinical classification showed that 61.1% of the cases were of stage Ⅰand Ⅱ. Approximately 93% of the patients had ECOG performance status (PS) score of 0-1 and 19.2% of the cases had elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). According to international prognosis index score, 80.6% of the patients were in a low risk group. At admission, 35.2% of the cases had ALC≤1 × 109/L. Hemoglobin (Hb) ≤110 g/L and B symptoms were seen in 29.6% and 26.9% of the patients. The mean Hb was129 .2 ± 17.5g/L in cases with ALC>1 × 109/L ( n=70) and 98.1 ± 20.6g/L in cases with ALC ≤1 × 109/L ( n=38), with a statistically significant difference be -tween the two groups (P<0.05). With a median follow-up duration of 2 years, the median overall survival (OS) time was 2.3 years for all patients. The 2-year and 5-year OS rates were 73.2% and 39.6%, respectively. ALC≤1 × 109/L, Hb ≤110 g/L, B symptoms and international prognostic index (IPI) ≥2 were statistically significant unfavorable prognostic factors for NHL revealed by univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that ALC≤1 × 109/L, B symptoms and IPI ≥2 were statistically significant unfavorable prognostic factors for NHL. Conclusion:ALC and B symptoms may be prognostic factors indepen-dent of IPI for NHL. Evaluation of the prognosis with IPI, ALC, and B symptoms is of clinical value for individualized therapy of NHL patients.