A risk model for relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL integrating clinical risk factors and pretransplant Deauville score

There are limited data regarding the combined value of the pretransplant Deauville score (DS) from a positron emission tomography scan and clinical risk factors in patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). We performed a retrospective analysis to assess the prognostic role of pretransplant DS in patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL who underwent salvage chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). We identified 174 eligible patients between January 2013 and March 2019. In multivariable analysis, pretransplant DS, B symptoms, and secondary International Prognostic Index (sIPI) were independent risk factors for event-free survival (EFS). These variables were used to derive an integrated risk score that categorized 166 patients with available information for all risk factors into 3 groups: low (n = 92; 55.4%), intermediate (n = 48; 28.9%), and high (n = 26; 15.7%). The new prognostic index showed a strong association with EFS (low-risk vs intermediate-risk hazard ratio [HR], 3.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.16-7.17; P < .001; low-risk vs high-risk HR, 10.83; 95% CI, 5.81-20.19; P < .001) and outperformed models based on clinical risk factors or DS alone. These results were validated in 60 patients from an independent external cohort (low-risk vs intermediate-risk HR, 4.04; 95% CI, 1.51-10.82; P = .005; low-risk vs high-risk HR, 10.49; 95% CI, 4.11-26.73; P < .001). We propose and validate a new prognostic index that risk-stratifies patients undergoing salvage chemotherapy followed by ASCT, thereby identifying patients at high risk for posttransplant treatment failure.