Clinicopathological Profile of Low-Grade B Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Tertiary Health Care in West Java Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Low-grade B cell Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are a group of lymphomas that are predominantly indolent and make up approximately 50% of all malignant lymphomas. Initial therapy for low-grade B cell LNH has an overall response rate of between 85-94% and a refractory rate of 6-10%. Few reports have been published regarding the clinicopathological characteristics of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases, especially low-grade B cell types. This research aims to determine the clinicopathological profile of low-grade B cell type non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases. Method: This research is a descriptive study using cross-sectional methods. The sample consisted of 40 low-grade B cell type NHL cases from January 2015 to June 2020 at Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung. Clinicopathological data, including age, sex, location of the tumor (nodal or extranodal), stage, B symptoms, and response to therapy, were taken from the patients’ medical records. Data were categorized into 2 groups based on response to initial therapy. Results and Discussion: Of the 40 cases diagnosed with low-grade B cell type NHL, 55% responded to initial therapy. From the non-response group, 61.1% were stage II and 72.2% exhibited B symptoms. There were no significant differences in age, sex, tumor location (nodal or extranodal), stage, or B symptoms in the response and non-response groups. Conclusion: In this study, 45% of patients with low-grade B cell type NHL did not respond to initial therapy. There was no statistically significant difference in the clinicopathological profiles of the response and non-response groups to initial therapy in cases of low-grade B cell type NHL. Keywords: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, low-grade B cell lymphoma, therapy response, clinicopathological