Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma Prognosis Calculator
The diffuse large B-cell lymphoma prognosis calculator estimates the overall & progression-free survival with the use of the revised IPI score for lymphoma.
Our tool serves as a simple DLBCL prognosis calculator – read on to find out more about the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma staging, signs and symptoms. 🌡️
What is DLBCL?
DLBCL stands for the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. When we think about DLBCL, we usually consider it a very aggressive neoplasm that can easily spread to different parts of the body and cause symptoms connected to rapidly growing cancer masses cells.
💡 Lymphoma itself is a kind of blood cancer that develops from white blood cells, called lymphocytes. Lymphomas are different from leukemia (another type of blood cancer) because they may form visible, solid tumors; their typical place of growth are lymph nodes, spleen, thymus.
DLBCL is usually detected among older people – it's a relatively common lymphoma. The most advanced type of the disease, DLBCL stage 4, carries 65% chance of survival.
🔎 Remember that every single disease is different – take a look at our diffuse large B-cell lymphoma prognosis calculator to find out probable prognosis measured for your specific circumstances.
💉 Blood and its neoplasm are both pretty difficult subjects – would you like to find out more about it? Try the MIPI calculator about the mantle cell lymphoma or start with the absolute lymphocyte count calculator.
Signs and symptoms of DLBCL
Lymphomas may go unnoticed for a longer period of time, up to the point when they cause severe and sudden complications. However, patients usually experience so-called B-symptoms, which can be easily overlooked:
- Fatigue 😴
- Night sweats 💧
- Weight loss, without any apparent reason, exercise or a special diet ⚖️
- Unexplained fever 🌡️
Sudden events that require medical attention connected to the lymphoma include:
- Superior vena cava syndrome – swelling and reddening of the upper part of the body, caused by the blockage of one of the main vessels carrying blood back to the heart; and
- Severe shortness of breath, caused by the blockage of the airways by the enlarged lymph nodes.
All the enumerated, dangerous events may happen not only with the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at stage 4 – they may also take place in lower levels of progression.
Worse outcomes are correlated with:
- Higher International Prognostic Index (IPI) score for lymphoma; and
- Higher staging, especially DLBCL stage 4.
📌 Many of the neoplasm may produce non-specific, non-typical signs and symptoms; your doctor should always rule out all the other possible diagnoses. To find out more, try the following tools: the lung cancer risk calculator, breast cancer risk or the metastatic prostate cancer prognosis.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma staging
Our diffuse large B-cell lymphoma prognosis calculator will supply you with a survival description based on 5 different factors: probably the most important one of them is the stage of the disease, ranked with the Ann-Arbor scale. Let's find out how it works, step by step:
- Simple staging
Stage I | One lymph node & its surroundings. |
|---|---|
Stage II | Two sites are taken - either lymph nodes or specific organs. All the sites must be located on the same side of the diaphragm. |
Stage III | At least two sides located on both sides of the diaphragm. |
Stage IV | Disease that has spread to the liver, kidneys, lungs, central nervous system. |
-
Modifiers
The extra letter added to the stage description:
- B – presence of B symptoms, described right here;
- A – absence of B symptoms;
- S – the disease has spread to the spleen;
- E – extranodal disease – a disease that is located outside of the lymph nodes; and
- X is marked when the biggest site affected is larger than 10 cm* (4 in), or the patient's mediastinum (the part between lungs) on X-ray takes more than 1/3 of the chest.
How to calculate DLBCL prognosis with the IPI score?
Our diffuse large B-cell lymphoma prognosis calculator uses the revised IPI score – a more accurate prognosis assessment method, updated after introducing rituximab to the disease's treatment.
- To receive the prognosis, answer the questions in the table below and count up all the points;
Factor | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
Age > 60 years? | 1 | 0 |
Stage III or IV? | 1 | 0 |
Elevated serum LDH? | 1 | 0 |
ECOG/Zubrod performance status 2-4? | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 |
- If you'd like to try the age adjusted IPI calculator version, you need to use the following version of the table:
Factor | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
Stage III or IV? | 1 | 0 |
Elevated serum LDH? | 1 | 0 |
ECOG/Zubrod performance status 2-4? | 1 | 0 |
💡 Age adjusted IPI calculators compare prognosis of people within the very same age group, and as you can see, count only 3 factors instead of 5.
• Overall survival: 94%
Very good prognosis (formerly Low risk)