Distinctive natural history in hepatitis C virus positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: analysis of 156 patients from northern Italy
Open Access
- 9 June 2006
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Annals of Oncology
- Vol. 17 (9), 1434-1440
- https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdl131
Abstract
Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has been correlated to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in few series, but characteristics and outcome of these patients remain undefined. Patients and methods: We analyzed 156 previously untreated consecutive HCV-positive patients with DLBCL observed between 1994 and 2004 in three major institutions from northern Italy. Results: Median age at presentation was 63 years and 8% of patients had DLBCL transformed from low-grade lymphomas. Spleen was the most frequently involved extranodal site, followed by liver and stomach. Treatment was delivered with cure-intent in 132 patients, while the remaining 24 patients received monochemotherapy or radiotherapy alone due to old age or seriously impaired hepatic function. Only five patients (4%) had to discontinue chemotherapy due to severe liver function impairment. The addition of rituximab did not seem to affect patients' tolerance to treatment. Five-year overall survival of the entire cohort was 72%, while 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) of the 132 patients treated with cure-intent was 51%. Hepatitis B virus co-infection, advanced Ann Arbor stage and nodal origin of the tumor resulted the strongest adverse prognostic factors. Conclusions: Patients with HCV-positive DLBCL share distinctive clinical features. Future studies should prospectively evaluate the association between HCV and aggressive lymphomas.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hepatitis C virus and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas: an Italian multicenter case-control studyBlood, 2003
- Establishment of B-Cell Lymphoma Cell Lines Persistently Infected with Hepatitis C Virus In Vivo and In Vitro: the Apoptotic Effects of Virus InfectionJournal of Virology, 2003
- Prevalence of bcl-2 Rearrangement in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus–Related Mixed Cryoglobulinemia with or without B-Cell LymphomasAnnals of Internal Medicine, 2002
- Prospective study of hepatitis C viral infection as a risk factor for subsequent B-cell neoplasiaBlood, 2002
- The B-cell receptor of a hepatitis C virus (HCV)–associated non-Hodgkin lymphoma binds the viral E2 envelope protein, implicating HCV in lymphomagenesisBlood, 2001
- Clinico-pathological characterization of hepatitis C virus-related B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas without symptomatic cryoglobulinemiaAnnals of Oncology, 1998
- Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients with B-Cell Non-Hodgkin LymphomaAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1997
- Characterization of Overt B-Cell Lymphomas in Patients With Hepatitis C Virus InfectionBlood, 1997
- HCV and non-Hodgkin lymphomaThe Lancet, 1996
- HCV and non-Hodgkin lymphomaThe Lancet, 1996