Clinical factors indicating the presence of malignant lymphoma before lymph node dissection

Conclusion: Lymph node swelling in the neck is one of the initial symptoms of malignant lymphoma (ML). The present study showed that clinical factors including higher age, higher level of maximum standardized uptake value (SUV-max) of positron-emission tomography, elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and elevated serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) were all useful indicators to suggest the diagnosis of ML, so may be helpful in the selection of patients for lymph node dissection. Objective: Lymph node dissection is essential for the diagnosis of ML. The factors important for the diagnosis of ML were investigated, to establish surgical indicators. Methods: Preoperative data including age, number and side of lymph nodes, SUV-max, serum LDH, serum sIL-2R, and size of lymph nodes were obtained from medical records. The cut-off level for each factor was calculated using the Youden Index for logistic regression analysis. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the following factors were associated with ML: higher age (≥ 53 years), higher level of SUV-max (≥ 9.0), elevated serum LDH (≥ 203 U/L), elevated serum sIL-2R (≥ 2590 U/ml), with odds ratios of 3.7, 4.9, 3.7, and 11.9, respectively.