Spanish Lymphoma Group (GELTAMO) guidelines for the diagnosis, staging, treatment, and follow-up of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

// Eva Gonzalez-Barca 1 , Monica Coronado 2 , Alejandro Martin 3 , Carlos Montalban 4 , Santiago Montes-Moreno 5 , Carlos Panizo 6 , Guillermo Rodriguez 7 , Juan Manuel Sancho 8 , Andres Lopez-Hernandez 9 and on behalf of the Spanish Lymphoma Group (GELTAMO) 1 Department of Hematology, Institut Catala d’ Oncologia and IDIBELL, L’ Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain 2 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain 3 Department of Hematology, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, IBSAL, CIBERONC, Salamanca, Spain 4 Department of Hematology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Madrid, Spain 5 Department of Pathology and Translational Hematopathology Lab, Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla/IDIVAL, Santander, Spain 6 Department of Hematology, Clinica Universidad de Navarra and Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain 7 Department of Hematology, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Macarena, Sevilla, Spain 8 Department of Hematology, ICO-IJC-Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain 9 Department of Hematology, Hospital Universitario Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain Correspondence to: Eva Gonzalez-Barca, email: e.gonzalez@iconcologia.net Keywords: guidelines; DLBCL; risk assessment; treatment; DLBCL entities Received: March 21, 2018      Accepted: July 23, 2018      Published: August 17, 2018 ABSTRACT Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) accounts for approximately 30% of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases in adult series. DLBCL is characterized by marked clinical and biological heterogeneity, encompassing up to 16 distinct clinicopathological entities. While current treatments are effective in 60% to 70% of patients, those who are resistant to treatment continue to die from this disease. An expert panel performed a systematic review of all data on the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of DLBCL published in PubMed, EMBASE and MEDLINE up to December 2017. Recommendations were classified in accordance with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework, and the proposed recommendations incorporated into practical algorithms. Initial discussions between experts began in March 2016, and a final consensus was reached in November 2017. The final document was reviewed by all authors in February 2018 and by the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Lymphoma Group GELTAMO.