Clinical features and prognosis analysis of patients with follicular lymphoma: A real-world study in China

Purpose We conducted a retrospective study to explore the clinical features and prognosis analysis of Chinese patients with follicular lymphoma(FL) in the real word. Methods This study included 118 FL patients who were newly diagnosed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients. Cox regression risk models were used to assess the factors affecting the OS and PFS. Results Univariable analysis showed that pathological grade 3B and composite FL, extranodal lesion site number ≥ 2, with B symptoms, lower hemoglobin, lower CD4 ⁺ T and NK cells, higher LDH, CD5-positive, MUM1-positive, CD10-negative, higher PRIMA-PI and FLIPI-2 score were the risk factors for PFS and OS. Moreover, higher β ₂ -MG and higher Ki-67 were the risk factors for PFS. Pathological grade 3B and composite FL was the independent risk factor of PFS. NK cells<8% was the independent risk factor of OS. The complete response (CR) and overall response rate (ORR) were 60.2% (71/118) and 70.3% (83/118) respectively after the first-line therapy. Conclusion Generally, pathological grade 3B and composite FL is an independent risk factor of PFS, and NK cells<8% is an independent risk factor of OS in FL patients. We revealed the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Chinese FL patients in the real word, which may provide novel data on prognostic factors and primary treatment of FL, applicable to routine clinical practice.