Time to lymphoma treatment within 24months in ‘watch and wait’ follicular lymphoma is associated with inferior outcomes: A multicentre analysis

Some ‘watch and wait’ (W&W) FL patients suffer from rapid progression in a short term. Herein, we sought to identify these patients and also develop a risk score to screen them at diagnosis. Between 2008 and 2022, a total of 411 FL patients managed by the W&W strategy from 16 cancer centres were retrospectively enrolled in this study, and their time to lymphoma treatment (TLT) and progression‐free survival (PFS) were evaluated. Thirty‐five percent of W&W FL patients experienced TLT within 24 months (TLT24) after diagnosis. Their 5‐year PFS rate was significantly lower than those without treatment at 24 months (62.3% vs. 89.5%). In multivariable analysis, five factors were identified as independent predictors of TLT24: stages III–IV, β2 microglobulin ≥3 mg/L, lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio