Elevated serum levels of cystatin C are found to be related to poor outcome and metastatic potential of some malignant disorders. To evaluate the clinical prominence of serum cystatin C in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), blood samples were obtained from 58 patients at the time of diagnosis and paired blood samples were obtained from 22 patients at the time of remission. Also, serum cystatin C level was measured in matched healthy controls. Serum cystatin C levels were significantly more elevated in DLBCL patients than in controls (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, paired-sample analysis revealed that pretreatment cystatin C levels were reduced significantly in patients who achieved remission after therapy (p = 0.016). High serum cystatin C levels were correlated with age over 60 years (p = 0.049), extra-nodal involvement (p = 0.005) and with high serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p < 0.013). Elevated serum cystatin C levels were associated with extra-nodal involvement and they were significantly reduced to normal range after the remission. However, Kaplan–Meier curves revealed no survival difference in the pretreatment serum cystatin C levels. Therefore, serum cystatin C may be a novel biomarker that reflects tumor burden in DLBCL but bears no prognostic significance regarding survival.

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