OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathologic features, pathogenesis, diagnostic criteria and the relationship between different classification models and prognosis in Chinese patients with DLBCL, and try to look for the most appropriate classification model to predict clinical prognosis and therapeutic responses for Chinese patients with DLBCL.

METHODS181 cases of Chinese DLBCLs diagnosed according to the WHO 2008 classification were collected. Standard two-step Envision method of immunohistochemical staining was used to assess the expressions of CD20, CD3ε, CD79a, CD10, Mum-1, Bcl-6, GCET-1, FOXP1 and Ki-67. The phenotypic classifications were assessed according to the standard of Hans model and Chan model. Data were analyzed by χ(2) test and Life Table survival analysis with the SPSS14.0 statistical package.

RESULTSThe ratio of male to female in this cohort was 1.26:1. The median age of all patients was 57 yrs with the average age of 53.5 yrs. Of 61 cases (33.7%) primarily showed lymph node involvement. Gastrointestinal tract as the most involved extra-nodal organ was observed in 43 cases (35.8%). All patients with complete clinical follow-up materials survived from 1 - 120 months. The patients showed a high risk for death in the initial one and half years. Three year survival rate was 49.7% (90/181). Three year survival of 44 cases received R-CHOP (Rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, bolus) was 76.9% (20/26), whereas 61.9% (60/97) in 119 cases received CHOP alone, R-CHOP group showed better prognosis (P = 0.017). All cases expressed one or more pan B cell markers, such as CD20 (176/179, 98.3%) and CD79a (62/77, 80.5%). For Hans model, 78 cases were classified as GCB group, while 103 cases as Non-GCB group. The ratio of Non-GCB to GCB was 1.32 without difference on the survival (P > 0.05). For the Chan's algorithm, 68 cases belonged to GCB subgroup, while 113 cases non-GCB subgroup. The ratio of non-GCB to GCB was 1.66. GCB subtype showed much better prognosis than non-GCB subtype according to Life Table survival analysis (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe epidemiology and clinicopathologic features of Chinese DLBCLs were similarly with the western cases. Chan's algorithm was a significant tool to predict the cell origin and clinical biology of Chinese DLBCLs.