The Hans algorithm is not prognostic in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP.

Our objective was to evaluate the non-germinal center (GC) profile as a marker for response and survival
in DLBCL and to compare the characteristics of patients with GC and non-GC DLBCL treated with
rituximab-containing regimens. In this patient-level meta-analysis, retrospective data from 712 newly
diagnosed DLBCL patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy from 7 centers were analyzed. GC and
non-GC profiles were defined according to the Hans algorithm. Although the non-GC profile showed a
trend towards worse overall survival (HR 1.24, 95% CI 0.92–1.66; p = 0.15) and progression-free survival
(HR 1.29, 95% CI 0.96–1.73; p = 0.09), it did not retain its value in the multivariate survival analysis. Additionally,
the non-GC profile was independently associated with worse complete response rates (OR 0.55,
95% CI 0.37–0.83; p < 0.01) in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. Interestingly, Asian patients
had higher proportion of GC DLBCL (p = 0.01).
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