High numbers of tumor-associated macrophages have an adverse prognostic value that can be circumvented by rituximab in patients with follicular lymphoma …
D Canioni, G Salles, N Mounier, N Brousse… - Journal of clinical …, 2008 - ascopubs.org
D Canioni, G Salles, N Mounier, N Brousse, M Keuppens, F Morchhauser, T Lamy, A Sonet…
Journal of clinical oncology, 2008•ascopubs.orgPurpose High amounts of intratumoral macrophages have been shown to correlate with
poor prognosis in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) treated with chemotherapy without
rituximab. We tried to establish whether intratumoral macrophage count (MC) definitely is
able to predict the outcome of FL patients in the rituximab era. Patients and Methods We
analyzed immunohistochemical CD68 expression in 194 FL patients from the FL-2000 trial,
randomly assigned to receive cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, etoposide, prednisolone …
poor prognosis in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) treated with chemotherapy without
rituximab. We tried to establish whether intratumoral macrophage count (MC) definitely is
able to predict the outcome of FL patients in the rituximab era. Patients and Methods We
analyzed immunohistochemical CD68 expression in 194 FL patients from the FL-2000 trial,
randomly assigned to receive cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, etoposide, prednisolone …
Purpose
High amounts of intratumoral macrophages have been shown to correlate with poor prognosis in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) treated with chemotherapy without rituximab. We tried to establish whether intratumoral macrophage count (MC) definitely is able to predict the outcome of FL patients in the rituximab era.
Patients and Methods
We analyzed immunohistochemical CD68 expression in 194 FL patients from the FL-2000 trial, randomly assigned to receive cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, etoposide, prednisolone, and interferon (CHVP-I) or rituximab plus CHVP-I. Immunohistochemistry was performed on paraffin sections using anti-CD68 KP1 antibody, and stained macrophages were scored on high-power field (hpf) in either intrafollicular (IF) or extrafollicular (EF) areas.
Results
For IF MC, the best cutoff point was estimated at 10 macrophages/hpf. Low IF MC was significantly associated with a better event-free survival (EFS; P = .011). However, this effect was observed only in the CHVP-I arm (P = .012) and not in the rituximab plus CHVP-I arm. Using a cutoff of 15 IF MC, we found no significant association with EFS. For EF MC, fewer than 22 macrophages/hpf were associated with better EFS in the CHVP-I arm (P = .02) but not in the rituximab plus CHVP-I arm.
Conclusion
These results show that MC can predict outcome of FL patients and that rituximab is able to circumvent the unfavorable outcome associated with high MC.
ASCO Publications