The Journal of Practical Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (10): 1502-1508.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2025.10.011

• Clinical Research • Previous Articles    

Clinical and genetic characteristics of follicular lymphoma with bulky disease

Tianyuan XU,Ruichi LI,Rui SUN,Nan WANG,Shu CHENG,Li WANG,Pengpeng XU,Weili ZHAO,Zhong. ZHENG()   

  1. Shanghai Institute of Hematology,State Key Laboratory of Medica Genomics,National Research Center for Translational Medicine at Shanghai,Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Shanghai 200025,Shanghai,China
  • Received:2025-02-27 Online:2025-05-25 Published:2025-05-21
  • Contact: Zhong. ZHENG E-mail:zheng_zhong89@163.com

Abstract:

Objective To explore the characteristics and prognosis of follicular lymphoma (FL) with bulky disease under rituximab-based first-line treatment. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 525 FL patients diagnosed between September 2009 and September 2021 who received rituximab as a first-line treatment [342 patients received rituximab combined with chemotherapy (R-chemo), 183 patients received rituximab plus lenalidomide (R2)]. The clinicopathologic characteristics, gene mutations, and prognosis of bulky FL patients were analyzed. Results Compared to non-bulky FL patients, bulky FL patients had a significantly higher proportion of lymph node ≥ 5 sites, ≥2 extranodal involvement, bone marrow involvement, elevated LDH, and a higher proportion in the high-risk group of FLIPI1 and FLIPI2. Gene sequencing revealed a significantly higher mutation rate of ZNF608 in bulky FL patients compared to non-bulky FL patients. In patients receiving R-chemo as the first-line treatment, there was no significant difference in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between bulky and non-bulky FL patients. However, in patients treated with R2, the PFS and OS of bulky FL patients was significantly shorter. Conclusions Bulky FL patients compared to non-bulky FL patients have a significantly higher proportion of high-risk baseline characteristics. For bulky FL at diagnosis, chemo-free regimens require further exploration on the basis of R2.

Key words: follicular lymphoma, bulky disease, clinicopathologic characteristic, gene mutation, prognostic analysis

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