Risk factors for intraocular involvement in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma

To determine the risk factors for intraocular involvement in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), a retrospective chart review was performed on 136 patients who were pathologically diagnosed with PCNSL. The patients were investigated for demographics, clinical manifestation, and the profile of immunohistochemical tumor biomarkers, as well as for the presence of intraocular involvement of lymphoma at diagnosis or during follow-up. The mean age of the entire cohort was 58.6 ± 12.4 years, and the mean follow-up period was 31.1 ± 30.8 months. Twenty-nine (21 %) patients had an intraocular involvement, among which 20 (69 %) patients presented with intraocular involvement at diagnosis of PCNSL and 9 (31 %) patients developed intraocular involvement after a mean period of 32.4 ± 33.6 months. Of the patients with intraocular involvement, 8 (28 %) had no visual symptom at the diagnosis of ocular invasion. Between those with and without intraocular involvement, no significant differences were found with respect to the age, sex, and follow-up period as well as cerebrospinal fluid spread and bone marrow involvement. Among the immunohistochemical biomarkers, the Ki-67 proliferation index was significantly higher in patients with intraocular involvement than in patients without (P = 0.021), but the other investigated biomarkers did not show a significant difference between the two groups. A Ki-67 level ≥80 % was a risk factor for the intraocular involvement in patients with PCNSL (odds ratio, 2.63). Median overall survival was 39.0 months in the entire cohort and was not significantly different between those with and without intraocular involvement (P = 0.959).