Interpreted as a pan T-cell marker, CD5 is a monomeric type 1 transmembrane glycoprotein. This protein, which has both an intracellular and extracellular domain, weighs 67 kDa. CD5 gene maps to the chromosome 11q12.2 region. Although it is frequently expressed from T cells, it is also expressed at a low level by a small subset of naive B lymphocytes12. CD5 inhibits signaling downstream of the B cell receptor (BCR) and modifies intracellular calcium mobilization. It also suppresses the release of IL-2, resulting in increased production of BCR-mediated IL-10, which is an anti-inflammatory marker and a survival factor for B-cells. In addition, there are studies showing that it is associated with the activation of the ERK1 / 2, PI3K, STAT3 and NFAT2 signal pathways in the presence of CD5 positive B cells and is thus related with poor prognosis7,12. Also, CD5 positive B cells can produce autoantibodies, which is also related with autoimmune events in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell leukemia (MCL)13. High LDH, bone marrow involvement, presence of extra nodal involvement, high IPI score, high ECOG performance score and CNS recurrence, which are known as predictive factors and are more common in the group with CD5 + DLBCL patients. The survival of these patients is also observed to be shorter compared to the CD5 - group8.
The frequency of CD5 positivity, which is more observed in the differential diagnosis of CLL and MCL, is variable in de novo DLBCL patients. In a retrospective study by Na H.Y, et al. about the characteristics of CD5 + DLBCL patients in Korea, CD5 positivity was found to be 7.4%14. In a multi-center study by Yamaguchi et al in Japan, this frequency was found 10%15. However, in large-scale studies in Japan, prevalence rates of CD5 positivity may vary widely, from 5 to 22%7,15. Besides these, in a multi-center large-scale study with data from Western countries, CD5 positivity ratio in DLBCL is (5.5%) lower than in East Asian countries16. When we look at the rate of CD5 + DLBCL lymphoma among DLBCL patients, in our study we found that it is 6.84% and this rate is closer to the rate found in Western countries unlike East Asian countries. One of the most important reasons for these differences is that CD5 staining in immunohistochemically, which as a pan-T marker, is not performed in every DLBCL patient in our country. If this evaluation can be performed in all newly diagnosed DLBCL patients in Turkey, we think that these rates may be higher, similar to what is seen in the studies coming from East Asia. When we compare the age distribution with other studies, the number of patients older than 60 and over was more common (\(\ge\)60 age: 55%) or similar. Survival was shorter in this group, as expected. Although, there is a predominance of female patient distribution in CD5 + DLBCL patients in studies from East Asian countries. But in our study, male patients were higher (55.7%) and similar to the data from Western countries.
In DLBCL patients, the chance of obtaining remission with treatment is 50-60% according to the current standard of care. In addition, we know that there are many factors that affect survival. When the patients are evaluated in the presence of clinical scores, the 5-year survival rate in patients with low IPI score is 90%, while this rate decreases to 60% with high IPI score. Also, when evaluated according to the cell of origin, according to Hans algorithm, 5-year OS was 48–56% in non-GCB subtype, while this rate was 73–78% in GCB subtype. The 5-year survival rate in the DHT / THT subtype, which is defined as an aggressive subtype and is found in 6% -14% of DLBCL patients, appears to be very low and nearly 18%1,17. As another variable, when screening the literature regarding the effect of CD5 presence on prognosis, we see that the data are similar in the other studies and the presence of CD5 positivity reduces survival. The 5-year overall survival (OS) is 35.5% in CD5 + DLBCL patients, and it has been found to be shorter than general DLBCL patient population12. In our study, immunohistochemically, we found that the mean survival was 29.8 months in CD5 + DLBCL patients. During this 5-year follow-up, we found that 31.3% of the patients had died. The study had two important limiting factors. First, we do not have the survival statistics of CD5 - control group. So we had to evaluate only CD5 + DLBCL patients in our study, and then we could make the comparison historically with the CD5 + and - DLBCL groups in the literature. The second important factor is the study was retrospective.
In addition to the shorter OS of CD5 + DLBCL patients, these patients have higher LDH, IPI elevation, advanced Ann-Arbor frequency, poor performance score (ECOG> 1), and bone marrow involvement at the time of diagnosis compared to CD5 - DLBCL patients. CNS relapse is more common in patients with CD5 positivity. CD5 + DLBCL is more often in the non-GCM / ABC phenotype. Also, the presence of double / triple expressor or double / triple hits (14.4%) is more common in these patients at the time of diagnosis12,14,15,16,18.
The age and gender distribution at the time of diagnosis is variable. In studies from East Asian countries, the frequency of female patients is significantly higher12,14,15. However, there is no difference in gender distribution in Western countries16. In our data, it was seen that male patients were in the majority (55.7%). Again, in most of the studies, we can say that the group > 60 years was more common in CD5 + patients. Xu-Monette et al. in the study conducted on CD5 + DLBCL patient data from western countries, it is seen that 76.7% of CD5 + patients are over 60 years old16. But, in a single-center study by Tang H. et al in China, 53.3% of CD5 + DLBCL patients were below the age of 60, in addition, the group over 60 years of age was more common in CD5 - patients12. In our data, the rate of patients, 60 years and older, are higher (55%) (Table- 3).
Central nervous system relapse is more common in CD5 + DLBCL patients. Its mechanism is still not understood. In the study by Zhang et al, it was observed that CNS involvement in relapsed DLBCL patients was 35% in CD5 + patients, while it was 19% in CD5 –patients18. Similarly, in the study by Thakral B. et al., CNS relapsed was 33.3% in CD5 + patients and 15.6% in CD5 - patients19. In our data, it was seen that 19 patients relapsed and only 4 patients relapsed from the CNS region (3% of all patient, 21% of all relapses). When the rate of CNS relapse in examined our CD5 + patients, compared with ratio in the literature, it was seen that although it was higher than in CD5 - patients, it was not as common as in CD5 + patients. Also, we found that not all of these patients received CNS prophylaxis in our study. In addition, we saw that the CNS prophylaxis number and protocol of the centers were not standard.
In our data, 64.6% of the patients had high LDH, and 13.4% had 3-fold or more. Also, 23% of the patients had bone marrow involvement, 70% had extra nodal involvement, 57% of the patients had B symptoms. At 66.6%, Ann-Arbor was seen as stage 3-4. And the presence of these factors had a significant relationship with survival. In addition to the higher frequency of all these factors that have impact on prognosis for CD5 + DLBCL patients. In a study with a small number of patients from Taiwan the presence of CD5 + was seen as the only adverse prognostic factor in multivariate analysis20.
As with DHL/THL, there are studies for intensive treatments for CD5 + patients, which is a poor prognostic factor. Increased overall survival with the introduction of Rituximab seems to be valid also for CD 5 + patients. In a study by Hyo R et al. showed that addition of Rituximab to chemotherapy, similarly increased OS and progression-free survival (PFS) in both CD5 + and CD5-groups 21. Also, in a study by Miyazaki K. et al revealed that addition of Rituximab to chemotherapy in CD 5 + DLBCL patients, it is seen that the addition of Rituximab to chemotherapy significantly increases OS22. In a retrospective study by Thankral B. et al., in which DLBCL patients treated with R-EPOCH chemotherapy, with a 28.5-month median follow-up, 37.5% of CD5 + patients had died, compared with 9.6% of patients with CD5 –19. In the study conducted by Zhang F. et al to evaluate the effect of intensive treatment on survival, the effectiveness of DA-EPOCH-R and R-CHOP treatments were compared. In the study, it was observed that PFS and OS were better in both CD5 + and CD5 - groups in patients who received DA-EPOCH-R in short-term follow-up. In the long-term follow-up, this difference was not seen for OS in CD5 + patients. Also, in another study with a small group of patients with short-term follow-up, we can say that the DA-EPOCH-R combined with high-dose methotrexate regimen had a better survival in the CD5 + patient group23. In our study, it was observed that the first line treatment of 11 patients was a more intensive treatment (DA-EPOCH-R, R-CHOEP, Hyper-CVAD). The mean survival of these patients compared to patients who received R-CHOP as first-line therapy was similar. The low number of patients receiving intensive treatment seems to be an important limiting factor in this comparison.