Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in the Elderly: Real World Outcomes of Immunochemotherapy in Asian Population

We evaluated the real-life treatment outcomes of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma from a homogenous Asian population and defined the cutoff age for "elderly."

The medical records of 192 DLBCL patients aged > 60 years who had received first-line immunochemotherapy were retrospectively evaluated. The treatment schedule, adverse events, and survival outcomes were analyzed overall and stratified by 4 age groups (> 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, and ≥ 75 years).

Patient age of ≥ 75 years was associated with a significantly lower complete remission rate (86.5% vs. 81.4% vs. 82.0% vs. 51%; P < .001) and greater treatment-related mortality (5.4% vs. 9.3% vs. 13.1% vs. 33.3%; P = .001). Advanced age was also related to dose reductions (24.3% vs. 39.5% vs. 73.8% vs. 100%; P < .001) and a lower likelihood of completing the planned chemotherapy cycle (73% vs. 79.1% vs. 78.7% vs. 51%, P = .005). Significantly poorer progression-free survival (3-year rate, 73.5% vs. 61.5% vs. 65.2% vs. 38.3%; P < .001) and overall survival (3-year rate, 77.9% vs. 74.1% vs. 70.9% vs. 43.6%; P < .001) were observed for patients aged ≥ 75 years. Multivariate regression analyses identified age ≥ 75 years and initial Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status as potential risk factors associated with overall survival.

Elderly patients aged < 75 years were able to tolerate standard immunochemotherapy, with acceptable survival profiles. In an Asian population, 75 years seems to be a judicious cutoff for predicting treatment outcomes.