We assessed the prognostic significance of pretreatment C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients.

We retrospectively reviewed 156 patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to generate a cutoff value for CRP. Both log-rank test and multivariable analysis by Cox regression model were used to assess the impact of pretreatment CRP concentrations on the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

Among those 156 patients enrolled, increased CRP concentration was seen in 51 patients before treatment (≥ 20 mg/l), while the other 105 patients were considered with low CRP concentration. There was no obvious difference in the baseline characteristics between two groups. Increased CRP concentration was significantly associated with poorer OS and PFS than those patients with low CRP concentration (P = 0.001 and P = 0.000, respectively). Multivariable analysis further showed that CRP concentration was an independent predictor of OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.24–0.92, P = 0.028) and PFS (HR = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.30–0.87, P = 0.013).

CRP concentration before treatment was an independent prognostic factor in patients with DLBCL.