Identification of prognostic markers in patients with primary vitreoretinal lymphoma by clustering analysis using clinical data

Abstract

(1) Purpose: Primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) is associated with poor prognosis because most of the patients with PVRL develop central nerve system lymphoma. The prognostic biomarker of PVRL is largely unknown. Cluster analysis has been used to identify phenotypic groups within various diseases. In this study, we aimed to describe clinical features of patients with PVRL grouped by clustering analysis and to identify biomarkers for predicting survival prognosis in patients with PVRL. (2) Materials and Methods: Forty patients with PVRL were divided into two groups by clustering analysis using clinical data. Clinical features of the two groups were compared. (3) Result: Clustering analysis classified patients into groups A and B. The survival rate during the follow-up period was significantly lower in group B than in group A (p = 0.03). Serum IgG, serum IgA, vitreous IL-10 and vitreous IL-10 to IL-6 ratio were significantly different between groups A and B (p = 0.03, 0.005, 0.008 and 0.03, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves generated for the four variables indicated that serum IgA was most suitable for the prediction of prognosis. Patients with serum IgA below 184 mg/dL obtained from the ROC curve had a lower three-year survival rate (p = 0.03) and more episodes of recurrence of lymphoma (3.2 times versus 1.8 times, p = 0.02) compared with patients with serum IgA above 184 mg/dL. (4) Conclusion: The survival rate was significantly different in PVRL patients classified into two groups by clustering analysis. Patients with lower serum IgA had more recurrences and poorer survival than patients with higher IgA.