OBJECTIVETo study the value of absolute lymphocyte count/absolute monocyte count (ALC/AMC) and its effect on prognosis in patients with primary follicular lymphoma treated with rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + vincristine + prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy.

METHODSSeventy patients with primary follicular lymphomawere in our hospital were treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy, the ALC/AMC value of peripheral blood was recorded, and the prognosis was assessed by the international prognostic index.

RESULTSAccording to the scores of the international prognostic index, 30 (42.86%) patients with score of 0-1 were enrolled in low-risk group, 21(30.00%), patients with score of 2 were enrolled in as the intermediate-risk group and 19 patients(27.14%) with score of 3-5 were enrolled in high-risk group. In the 3 group, the total effective rate of the low-risk group was the highest (95.24%), second was the intermediate-risk group (86.67%) and the total effective rate of the high-risk group was the lowest (78.95%), which showed that the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); the progression-free survival(PFS) rate of 3 years in the low risk group was the highest (90%), followed by the intermediate-risk group (76.19%), and the PFS rate of the high-risk group was the lowest (52.63%)(P<0.05). The total effective rate of ALC/AMC<4.7 group was significantly lower than that of ALC/AMC ≥4.7 group (68.63% vs 89.47%) (P<0.05), and the PFS rate of 3 years was lower than that of ALC/AMC≥4.7 group (70.59% vs 89.47%) (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that ALC/AMC value in the peripheral blood was an independent prognostic factor for patients with follicular lymphoma (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe value of ALC/AMC in the peripheral blood may be an important marker for evaluation of prognosis in patients with primary follicular lymphoma treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy, which helps to assess the patient' s immune and tumor microenvironment.