Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 16, 2023; 11(14): 3176-3186
Published online May 16, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i14.3176
Clinical features and prognostic factors in 49 patients with follicular lymphoma at a single center: A retrospective analysis
Hao Wu, Hui-Cong Sun, Gui-Fang Ouyang
Hao Wu, Gui-Fang Ouyang, Department of Hematology, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo 315010, Zhejiang Province, China
Hui-Cong Sun, Adult Internal Medicine, Ningbo Women and Children's Hospital, Ningbo 315012, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Ouyang GF provided the experimental idea; Wu H and Sun HC collected, sorted, and analyzed the data; Wu H completed the writing of this article; and all authors have read and approved the final draft.
Supported by Zhejiang TCM Science and Technology Project, No. 2023ZL653.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Ningbo First Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from the patients and their parents/guardians.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships or any other conflict of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gui-Fang Ouyang, MD, Chief Physician, Department of Hematology, Ningbo First Hospital, No. 59 Liuting Street, Ningbo 315010, Zhejiang Province, China. oyguifangoy@163.com
Received: February 27, 2023
Peer-review started: February 27, 2023
First decision: March 10, 2023
Revised: March 24, 2023
Accepted: April 12, 2023
Article in press: April 12, 2023
Published online: May 16, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a B-cell lymphoma that originates at the germinal center and has a low malignancy rate.

Research motivation

To gain a deeper understanding of the clinical characteristics, efficacy, and prognostic factors of FL in China and to provide guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 49 patients with FL who were diagnosed and treated at our hospital in recent years.

Research objectives

This study aimed to explore the clinical features, curative effects, and prognostic factors of FL.

Research methods

The medical records of 49 patients with FL admitted to the Ningbo First Hospital from June 2010 to June 2021 were retrospectively reviewed to compare the curative effects of different therapeutic schemes and analyze the related prognostic factors.

Research results

The age at onset in the 49 patients ranged from 24 to 76 years, with a median age of 51 years. The male:female ratio was 1.6:1. No significant difference was noted in the curative effect between the non-chemotherapy, combined chemotherapy, and other chemotherapy regimen groups. Hemoglobin (Hb) level < 120 g/L, Ki-67 value >50%, bone marrow involvement, and clinical stages III–IV were associated with a poor prognosis. However, the influence of the other indicators on prognosis was not statistically significant. Risk grouping was performed using the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognosis Index. The results showed that 24.5%, 40.8%, and 34.7% of patients were in the low-, moderate-, and high-risk groups, respectively. According to the survival analysis results, the survival rate of patients was lower in the high-risk group than in the other two groups.

Research conclusions

FL mainly occurs in middle-aged or older men who mainly present with lymph node and bone marrow involvement. Hb level, Ki-67 value, bone marrow involvement, and clinical stage can be used for prognostic estimation.

Research perspectives

To analyze the clinical characteristics, efficacy, prognosis, and survival factors of 49 patients in order to improve clinicians' understanding of the disease and provide guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment.