Objective: Primary testicular diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PT-DLBCL) is relatively rare, and risk factors of this disease are still not well understood. This study aims to identify clinical features and prognostic factors of PT-DLBCL patients.
Methods: Thirty-two patients were included in this retrospective study who were diagnosed as PT-DLBCL and treated in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center between November 2010 and May 2018. The demographic details, clinico-pathological characteristics of the patients were summarized, and the impact on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed.
Results: The median age of the patients was 57 (range 36–76) years old. All patients received rituximab in combination with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) for 4–6 cycles and central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis, with a CR rate 87.5% and an ORR 96.9%. Nineteen patients continued prophylactic contralateral testis radiation therapy (PCTRT) in our hospital. The 3-year PFS and OS rates were 79% and 92%, respectively. None of the 19 patients who received PCTRT experienced local recurrence. All three patients who suffered from CNS relapse were germinal center B-cell subtype. Kaplan–Meier analyses showed that PT-DLBCL patients with late-stage (Stage IV) (P  =0.022), higher IPI score (IPI≥ 2) (P  =0.017), B symptoms (P  =0.004), and elevated LDH level (P  =0.03) had a shorter PFS. More importantly, we found that patients with the ratio of the LDH level in serum to that in CSF ≥ 6.5 suffered from a worse PFS (P  =0.028).
Conclusion: Our work revealed that staging IV, IPI score ≥2, having B symptoms and elevated LDH level were risk factors for PT-DLBCL patients. Significantly, the PT-DLBCL patients with a high ratio of LDH level in serum to that in CSF were indicated to have a worse PFS.
Keywords: primary testicular diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, clinical feature, prognosis