[Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma]

To investigate the clinical characteristics of relapsed or refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the factors affecting overall survival (OS) time.

The clinical data of 14 R/R DLBCL patients admitted to the Hainan Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital from April 2012 to March 2019 were analyzed retrospectively and the overall response rate (ORR) after the end of different treatments was estimated. Kaplan-Meier method was used to describe the survival curve, and Log-rank test was used to compare whether different survival curves showed statistically different.

There were 8 males and 6 females with a median age of 51 (26-75) years old and the median course of treatment before R/R was 7 (4-13). Finally, 11 patients achieved remission, 6 patients of which showed complete remission, and 5 patients showed partial remission, with the median ORR duration at 2.5 (0-51) months. All patients in the group of ibrutinib combined with second-line chemotherapy achieved remission (4/4), it was equivalent to the high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDC-AHSCT) group (4/4), which was significantly higher than that of the other second-line group (3/6). The median OS time of patients was 17 (6-76) months. The survival of patients receiving ibrutinib combined with second-line chemotherapy and HDC-AHSCT was significantly better than that of patients not receiving ibrutinib combined with second-line chemotherapy and HDC-AHSCT. Normal lactate dehydrogenase, IPI score＜3 at diagnosis, and CR/PR after treatment could improve the survival time of patients.

The duration of remission for R/R DLBCL patients is short and the prognosis is very poor. The survival time of patients with high level of lactate dehydrogenase, IPI score≥3 at diagnosis and SD/PD after treatment is significantly shortened. Ibrutinib combined second-line chemotherapy and HDC-AHSCT can improve the efficacy and survival of R/R DLBCL patients.