Age and comorbidity are determining factors in the overall and relative survival of patients with follicular lymphoma

Abstract

Frailty and concurrent medical conditions are crucial factors in the management of follicular lymphoma (FL). We evaluated the impact of age and comorbidity on survival, causes of death, histological transformation (HT), and second malignancies (SM) in a large single-center series of grade 1–3A FL. We studied 414 patients diagnosed in the rituximab era, categorized into three age groups (≤60, 61–70, >70 years) and two comorbidity groups (Charlson Comorbidity Index, CCI, 0–1 and ≥2). Despite a similar cumulative incidence of relapse, older and comorbid patients had a lower 10-year overall survival (OS, 88, 65, and 41% for patients ≤60 years, 61–70 years, and >70 years, PP70 years (30%) and those with a CCI ≥2 (32%). Patients with a CCI ≥2 also had a higher incidence of SM. These data encourage a comprehensive pre-treatment evaluation and a tailored therapeutic approach for all FL patients.