Affiliations: [a] Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China | [b] Key Laboratory of Hematology of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China | [c] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Wei Xu, Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China. Tel.: +86 25 83781120; Fax: +86 25 83781120; E-mail: xuwei10000@hotmail.com.
Note: [1] Xiao-Hui Zhou and Xin-Yu Zhang contributed equally to the development of this manuscript.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Although risk stratification of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is most frequently performed using the simplified MCL International Prognostic Index (sMIPI), the identification of host-related factors and tumor microenvironment, including absolute monocyte counts (AMC) and peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets, especially absolute natural killer cell counts (ANKC) has been suggested to be critical in the prediction of prognosis and the guidance of treatment. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at investigating whether peripheral blood ANKC and AMC at diagnosis had an impact on MCL prognosis. METHODS: A total of 92 newly diagnosed MCL patients was enrolled in this retrospective study. Flow cytometric analysis was conducted on fresh peripheral blood samples with a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA). RESULTS: The median follow-up was 42 months (range, 2–144 months) and the median overall survival (OS) of all cases was 45 months. High AMC (> 0.6 × 109/L) was the parameter associated with inferior progression free survival (PFS) (P= 0.044) and poor OS (P= 0.028) while low ANKC (⩽ 0.1 × 109/L) was associated with unfavorable OS (P= 0.023) by univariable analysis. Multivariable analysis revealed that only low ANKC (⩽ 0.1 × 109/L) was statistically significant in worse OS (P= 0.009) independent of sMIPI. CONCLUSIONS: Low ANKC (⩽ 0.1 × 109/L) proved to be a significant predictor of inferior OS in patients with MCL.
