Classifying DLBCL Subtypes for Optimal Treatment

DLBCL is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, representing about 30% to 40% of cases. Patients are typically diagnosed with an excisional lymph node biopsy or a biopsy of another affected organ. When pathologists look under the microscope, they can see a diffused proliferation of large neoplastic B cells. These B cells are identified by flow cytometry or immunohistochemistry that identifies pan-B-cell antigens such as CD19, CD20, and CD79a, as well as CD45. DLBCL is known to be an aggressive lymphoma, but it is also known to be both clinically and molecularly heterogeneous.[1] Patients can have a range of clinical presentations, with disease of only one lymph node to more advanced-stage disease with extranodal sites of involvement. Just like patients can have a range of clinical presentations, outcomes can also be extremely variable, with approximately 60% of patients being cured with frontline chemotherapy. The remaining patients with refractory or relapsed disease have much poorer outcomes.