T-cell phenotype is associated with decreased survival in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

This study was undertaken to determine which if any pretreatment factors are statistically significant determinants of the clinical outcome in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The pretreatment factors in 20 patients with T-cell lymphoma, including two patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), and 28 patients with B-cell lymphoma were evaluated. In a stepwise logistic regression analysis, a T-cell phenotype in addition to high grade histology and pleural involvement demonstrated a statistically significant correlation with decreased response rate, when the analysis did not include patients with ATLL. Analysis by means of the Cox proportional hazards model disclosed that the T-cell phenotype retained a statistically significant correlation with survival after adjustments for other prognostic factors, whether the study included the patients with ATLL or not. The decreased response rate and survival of Japanese patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in comparison with those reported in Western countries seem to be due to increased intrusion of T-cell lymphomas. To permit a reliable comparison of reports on new chemotherapeutic regimens from different institutions, the tumor phenotype must be determined in the population studied.