The clinical significance of fibrinogen plasma levels in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma

BackgroundFibrinogen plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of tumour cell growth, invasion and metastasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of pretreatment plasma fibrinogen levels in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL)MethodsData from 372 patients with DLBCL, diagnosed and treated between 2004 and 2013 at two Austrian centres, were evaluated retrospectively. The prognostic influences of plasma fibrinogen levels and other factors, including age, tumour stage and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network-International Prognostic Index, on 5-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) were studied using Kaplan–Meier curves as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression models.ResultsKaplan–Meier analysis revealed that a high fibrinogen plasma level is associated with decreased 5-year OS and 5-year DFS in patients with DLBCL (p