Su-Hee Cho1, Cheolwon Suh2, Young Rok Do3, Je-Jung Lee4, Hwan-Jung Yun5, Sung Young Oh6, Ho Sup Lee7, Seok-Goo Cho8, In Sung Cho9, Won-Sik Lee10, Young-Woong Won11, Hyo Jung Kim12, Hong Ghi Lee13, Soon Il Lee14, Sung-Nam Lim15, Byeong Seok Sohn16, Heui June Ahn17, Myung Hee Chang18, Kyung A Kwon19, Won Seog Kim20. 1. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, South Korea. 2. Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. 3. Department of Hematology-Oncology, Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, South Korea. 4. Department of Hematology, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Hwasun, South Korea. 5. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea. 6. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, South Korea. 7. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University Gospel Hospital, Busan, South Korea. 8. Department of Hematology, Catholic Blood and Marrow Transplantation Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea. 9. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon, South Korea. 10. Department of Hematology-Oncology, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, Busan, South Korea. 11. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, South Korea. 12. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, South Korea. 13. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea. 14. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Dankook University Hospital, Cheonan, South Korea. 15. Department of Hematology-Oncology, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan Hae-undae Paik Hospital, Busan, South Korea. 16. Department of Hematology-Oncology, Inje University College of Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. 17. Department of Oncology, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Gangneung, South Korea. 18. Department of Hematology-Oncology, Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, South Korea. 19. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Dongnam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Busan, South Korea. 20. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: wskimsmc@skku.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The incidence of follicular lymphoma (FL) varies according to geographic location. It is the second most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Western countries but has a very low incidence in Asia. Thus, no representative data are available for FL. Therefore, we gathered our own data to build a foundation for FL research. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected a total of 343 patient records. The median age was 53 years, and the ratio of male to female patients was 1.4:1. Most patients received chemotherapy with or without rituximab. RESULTS: The incidence of grade 1 and 2 FL was 64.9% (n = 205) and of stage III and IV was 51.2% (n = 171). The grade tended to be higher and the stage to be lower compared with Western data. In the chemotherapy group, the complete response rate was 76.0%, and the partial response rate was 17.1%. The median follow-up duration was 38.1 months. The estimated 5- and 10-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 68.3% and 84.9% and 63.0% and 71.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We could not find definitive differences between our Korean data and the Western data, although we found some trends in the baseline characteristics. Therefore, we hope to develop an understanding of FL and perform more qualitative studies in the future.
BACKGROUND: The incidence of follicular lymphoma (FL) varies according to geographic location. It is the second most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Western countries but has a very low incidence in Asia. Thus, no representative data are available for FL. Therefore, we gathered our own data to build a foundation for FL research. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected a total of 343 patient records. The median age was 53 years, and the ratio of male to female patients was 1.4:1. Most patients received chemotherapy with or without rituximab. RESULTS: The incidence of grade 1 and 2 FL was 64.9% (n = 205) and of stage III and IV was 51.2% (n = 171). The grade tended to be higher and the stage to be lower compared with Western data. In the chemotherapy group, the complete response rate was 76.0%, and the partial response rate was 17.1%. The median follow-up duration was 38.1 months. The estimated 5- and 10-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 68.3% and 84.9% and 63.0% and 71.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We could not find definitive differences between our Korean data and the Western data, although we found some trends in the baseline characteristics. Therefore, we hope to develop an understanding of FL and perform more qualitative studies in the future.