Karyotyping of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas: loss of 17p is associated with poor patient outcome

Background Cytogenetic studies of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have revealed a large spectrum of chromosomal abnormalities, some of which may be clinically relevant. We wanted to evaluate possible associations between commonly acquired chromosome aberrations and prognosis in a large cohort of patients. Methods All patients with DLBCL treated at our center during 1999–2010 with an abnormal G-banding karyotype determined on cells short-term cultured from diagnostic biopsies were included. Detailed information on staging, treatment, and outcome was available for all patients. Results Of the 110 patients available for analysis, there were 48 deaths and 27 relapses after a median follow-up of 4.5 yr. Eleven different chromosomal abnormalities were detected in more than ten percent of patients. Of those, only loss of 17p, including the TP53 tumor suppressor gene, was significantly associated with inferior long-term prognosis. Five year overall and progression-free survival frequencies were 32% and 27% for patients with loss of 17p and 67% and 59% in patients without this abnormality. Conclusion In a relatively large cohort of patients with DLBCL analyzed by chromosome banding, loss of 17p was the only chromosomal abnormality associated with inferior survival in uni- and multivariate analysis.