Cell of origin, germinal center versus nongerminal center, determined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray, does not correlate with outcome in patients with relapsed and refractory DLBCL

A number of prognostic factors affect outcome in patients with relapsed or primary refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), including refractory disease and the second-line age-adjusted international prognostic index. In de novo DLBCL, the cell of orgin, as determined by expression microarray analysis or immuno/histochemistry (IHC), predicts event-free survival (EFS). We evaluated the cell of origin, as well as other pathologic markers of outcome, on the repeat biopsy specimen of 88 transplantation-eligible patients undergoing ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide (ICE) second-line chemotherapy (SLT) followed by high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) to see if were they prognostic in the salvage setting. Pretreatment clinical factors were well balanced between the cohorts. There was no significant difference in response to SLT, HDT, event-free or overall survival based on the cell of origin or any of the common pathologic markers examined. The cell of origin as determined by IHC does not predict outcome in transplantation-eligible patients with relapsed or primary refractory DLBCL.