Retrospective analysis of the association between monocyte percentage and outcomes in newly diagnosed diffuse large B‑cell lymphoma

The aim of the present study was to analyze the prognostic value of monocyte percentage (MP) at diagnosis in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Overall, 169 patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL who were treated with rituximab-based therapy at the Department of Hematology, Ganzhou People's Hospital (Ganzhou, China) between January 2015 and December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the impact of MP and clinical characteristics on prognosis. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to analyze progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The prediction performance for OS was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. A total of 16 patients passed away during the follow-up, whereas 53 patients experienced disease progression/relapse. Patients were divided into groups with low (≤10%) and high (>10%) MPs, with 10% serving as the cutoff. A high MP was independently associated with worse PFS (hazard ratio, 2.54; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-5.99; P=0.033) and OS (P<0.05). When MP was combined with International Prognostic Index (IPI) scores, predictive accuracy was significantly higher than upon using IPI alone (area under the ROC curve, 0.907 vs. 0.792, respectively; P=0.043). In conclusion, in patients with DLBCL, a high MP at diagnosis is significantly associated with poor survival outcomes. Combining MP with IPI score improves prognostic stratification.