Background: CD5 expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has a poor prognosis but the prognostic value of CD5 expression in marginal zone lymphoma is undefined.
Methods: Clinicopathological features, survival outcomes, and prognostic implications of marginal zone lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed in 204 patients. We classified patients into (i) CD5-positive marginal zone lymphoma (ii) CD5-negative marginal zone Lymphoma, Fisher's exact test was used to compare the CD5-positive and CD5-negative marginal zone lymphoma. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) curves were summarized by Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test, The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses.
Results: CD5 expression is rare in marginal zone lymphoma, of 204 patients, only 48 (23.53%) had CD5-positive. Due to the characterized of slow growth and locally aggressive nature, the prognosis is favorable after treatment. at the end of the followup 179 patients were still alive,163 patients never progressed. The 5-year PFS and OS rates for marginal zone lymphoma were 65.10% and 77.30% respectively, the 5-year PFS and OS rates for CD5-positive marginal zone lymphoma were 64.80% and 84.10%, there is no significant difference between CD5-positive and CD5-negative ( P =0.829, P =0.521). Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) transformation was pathologically indicated in 6 patients, of which 5(83.33%) patients were CD5-positive marginal zone lymphoma.
Conclusion: CD5 expression in marginal zone lymphoma is not independently prognostic for PFS and OS. But CD5-positive marginal zone lymphoma seems more likely to transformation to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.