Frequency and clinical association of NY-ESO-1 gene expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the frequency of expression and determine the expression levels of the NY-ESO-1 gene in patients with DLBCL as well as to examine its relationship with clinical parameters and survival. Methods: We analyzed NY-ESO-1 gene expression levels using real-time quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) in 112 patients with DLBCL. The associations between the expression of the NY-ESO-1 gene and the clinical variables were evaluated using the Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Overall survival (OS) was determined using the Kaplan–Meier method. Result: The results showed that the NY-ESO-1 gene was expressed in 46.4% (52/112) of patients with DLBCL, and NY-ESO-1 gene expression was associated with clinical parameters such as LDH, clinical stage, and International Prognostic Index (IPI) (p ≤ 0.05). High levels of NY-ESO-1 gene expression were associated with advanced disease stages, and the survival rates after 5.3 years of tracking were lower in the patients expressing the NY-ESO-1 gene (66.4%) than in those not expressing the gene (23.1%). Conclusion: The expression levels of the NY-ESO-1 gene in patients with DLBCL may be of great utility for diagnosing and determining the prognosis of this disease