Clinical Features and Outcome of 147 Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a subset of low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Furthermore, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has been correlated to HCV infection in several series from our geographical area (north-east of Italy), but little is known about the characteristics of such high-grade tumors. We analyzed presentation features of 147 previously untreated HCV-positive patients with DLBCL who presented to the three participating centers between 1993 and 2004. All patients were provided with complete clinical information, were HIV negative, and had been tested at tumor onset for HCV antibodies by ELISA and RIBA.

Median age at presentation was 64 years old (range 29–88), 47% were males, ECOG performance status was >1 in 20%, Ann Arbor stage was I in 20%, II in 27%, III in 26%, IV in 27%, and B-symptoms were present in 37% of patients. The International Prognostic Index (IPI) value at diagnosis was low in 18%, int/low in 23%, int/high in 32%, and high in 27% of patients. Surprisingly, DLBCL transformed from a low-grade histology represented only 7% of the whole population, while primary mediastinal DLBCL were extremely rare (1/147, <1%). Patients frequently presented as primary extranodal DLBCL (65/147, 44%). Most involved extranodal sites were skin, liver, stomach, and spleen, with the latter being the most represented syte (33% of patients). Remarkably, spleen was the only extranodal involved organ in 20% of patients. Treatment was delivered with cure-intent, and consisted of CHOP-like regimens +/− Rituximab for the large majority of patients, except for 16 (11%) patients with cirrhosis or severe hepatic dysfunction, who received mono-chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Only three (2%) HCV-positive patients had to discontinue chemotherapy due to liver function impairment. The addition of Rituximab to chemotherapy did not seem to affect patients’ tolerance to treatment. With a median follow-up of 48 months for survivors, 5-year overall survival (OS) was 75%, while 5-year failure-free survival (FFS) was 51%. In particular, the 65 patients with primary extranodal DLBCL shared a better 5-year OS (83% vs 71%, p=0.01) and FFS (75% vs 39%, p=0.009) than their nodal counterpart. Nodal origin of the tumor resulted the strongest independent adverse factor both in terms of OS and FFS in multivariate analysis.

The peculiar clinical behavior shared by HCV-positive DLBCL may disclose relevant biological features of these tumors, and may be relevant for future studies aiming to clarify the link between HCV infection and aggressive lymphoproliferative disorders.