Haematologica (Mar 2020)

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of Richter transformation: experience of 204 patients from a single center

  • Yucai Wang,
  • Marcella A. Tschautscher,
  • Kari G. Rabe,
  • Timothy G. Call,
  • Jose F. Leis,
  • Saad S. Kenderian,
  • Neil E. Kay,
  • Eli Muchtar,
  • Daniel L. Van Dyke,
  • Amber B. Koehler,
  • Susan M. Schwager,
  • Susan L. Slager,
  • Sameer A. Parikh,
  • Wei Ding

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2019.224121
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 105, no. 3

Abstract

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The natural history, prognostication and optimal treatment of Richter transformation developed from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are not well defined. We report the clinical characteristics and outcomes of a large series of biopsy-confirmed Richter transformation (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or high grade B-cell lymphoma, n=204) cases diagnosed from 1993 to 2018. After a median follow up of 67.0 months, the median overall survival (OS) was 12.0 months. Patients who received no prior treatment for CLL had significantly better OS (median 46.3 vs. 7.8 months; P