Might periostin serve as a marker of bone marrow involvement in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma?

Objectives We measured the serum periostin levels in patients with DLBCL and determined whether the levels reflected the clinical findings. Methods This was a case-control study. DLBCL patients diagnosed between March 2021 and October 2021 (n=36) and healthy volunteers (n=36) (Control group) were included. The serum periostin levels of the two groups were compared. Moreover, subgroup analyses were conducted in the patient group. Results The serum periostin level was significantly higher in the patient than the control group (28.8 +/- 3.2 vs. 15.1 +/- 7.5 ng/mL, p=0.017). On subgroup analyses, the median serum periostin level of nine (25%) patients with bone marrow involvement was higher than that of the 27 (75%) lacking bone marrow involvement (12.7 vs. 21.7 ng/mL, p=0.018). On ROC analysis, the optimal periostin cutoff for bone marrow involvement was 17.3 ng/mL (sensitivity 77%, specificity 67%, AUC 0.765; 95% CI; 0.606-0.924, p=0.018). By the disease stage, the periostin level was higher in stage 4 patients than in those of other stages (21.3 vs. 12.0 ng/mL, p=0.029). Conclusions The periostin level correlated with such involvement; periostin may serve as a novel prognostic marker of DLBCL.