Correlation of Patterns of Bone Marrow Infiltration and Biochemical factors in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

OBJECTIVES To investigate the patterns of bone marrow involvement in in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) patients and to correlate the patterns with β2 microglobulin (β2m) and lactate dehydrogenase 2 (LD2) levels in these patients. METHODS It was a cross sectional study which was conducted in two years at Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore and at Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), Lahore. The study was conducted on 50 subjects irrespective of age and sex divided into two groups i.e. Group-A comprising 20 normal healthy controls while Group-B consisted of 30 patients of NHL with bone marrow infiltration. Bilateral bone marrow trephine biopsy was done to assess the patterns of bone marrow infiltration. Serum β2m and LD2 isoenzyme levels were determined in already diagnosed 30 patients of NHL. The values were compared with 20 healthy age and sex matched controls. Correlation coefficients were determined using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient. The estimations were made prior to the institution of chemotherapy. RESULTS β2m and LD2 levels were significantly (p-Value < 0.05) raised in NHL patients with disease advancement and were compared with controls. These serological markers showed negative correlation (-0.235 for β2m and -0.133 for LD2) with the spread of disease and patterns of involvement in NHL patients. CONCLUSION By observing the patterns of bone marrow involvement in NHL patients possible guidelines about prognosis and treatment protocols can be obtained as the serological markers levels correlate well with the spread of disease and patterns of involvement in NHL patients.