De novo CD5+ diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: Adverse outcomes with and without stem cell transplantation in a large,...

De novo CD5+ diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) are a distinct subgroup of DLBCL with poor prognosis. However the role of rituximab-containing therapy and salvage stem cell transplantation in this patients' population remain to be defined. We retrospectively reviewed clinical features and outcomes of 102 patients with de novo CD5+ DLBCL treated with rituximab-containing therapy at nine different institutions. By Hans' criteria, 64 patients had activated B-cell (ABC) subtype, 24 germinal center B-cell (GCB) subtype, and 14 were not evaluated. No patients had a myc translocation. Eighty-three patients were treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (R-CHOP), 7 with rituximab, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (R-EPOCH), and 6 with R-CHOP with methotrexate, 3 g/m(2) . The overall response rate to front-line therapy was 85%. The 3-year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for all patients were 40 and 65%, respectively. The 3-year PFS for ABC- and GCB-subtypes was 34 and 45%, respectively. The 3-year OS for ABC- and GCB-subtypes was 62 and 67%, respectively. The median time to second treatment failure was 3 months and 1 month for ABC- and GCB-subtypes, respectively. Twenty of 28 (71%) transplanted patients with autologous, allogeneic, or both, relapsed. This study confirms the poor prognosis of de novo CD5+ DLBCL in a large multi-center cohort despite initial rituximab-containing chemotherapy and suggests that stem cell transplantation fails to salvage the majority of these patients. Approaches to prevent recurrence and/or novel therapies for relapsed disease are needed for this subgroup of DLBCL patients.