Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine prognostic factors for overall survival in patients with post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs).
Patients and methods: This study focused on the 107 adult solid organ transplantation patients who were diagnosed with PTLDs at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) between December 1970 and May 2003.
Results: The median age at the time of diagnosis was 48 years (range, 15 to 75 years). Extranodal disease including grafted organ involvement was present in 85 patients (80%). The graft organ was involved in 30 patients (28%). At the time of these analyses, 62 patients (58%) had died. The median survival for the entire cohort was 31.5 months (95% CI, 10.7 to 72.5 months). The median follow-up of living patients was 51.8 months (range, 5.6 to 202.6 months). In univariate analyses for overall survival from the time of PTLD diagnosis, the following poor prognostic factors were identified: poor performance status with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group levels 3 and 4 (P < .0001), grafted organ involvement (P = .0005), the presence of one or more extranodal sites (P = .005), both nodal and extranodal disease (P = .002), high International Prognostic Index (P = .006), advanced stage (P = .001), and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (P = .03). A final multivariable model for survival was constructed using three factors: poor performance status (3 to 4), monomorphic disease, and graft organ involvement.
Conclusion: A prognostic model has been developed for PTLD patients using one center's 30 years of experience. We propose additional confirmation and validation of these prognostic factors in larger prospective studies.