Abstract:Objective To investigate the risk factors for bone marrow infiltration (BMI) in patients with malignant lymphoma, and to investigate the predictive values of platelet count (PLT) and levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) for the occurrence of BMI.Methods Ninety-eight patients with malignant lymphoma were divided into BMI group (n = 22) and non-BMI group (n = 76) according to whether they had BMI. Univariable and multivariable Logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors for BMI in patients with malignant lymphoma. The predictive efficacy of PLT and the levels of LDH and sIL-2R for BMI in patients with malignant lymphoma was assessed via the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Results The results of univariable and multivariable Logistic regression analyses showed that increased PLT [O^R = 0.980 (95% CI: 0.964, 0.996) ] was the protective factor for BMI in patients with malignant lymphoma (P < 0.05), and that advanced age [O^R = 1.155 (95% CI: 1.046, 1.276) ] and clinical stage (stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ) [O^R = 5.829 (95% CI: 1.939, 17.522) ], and high serum levels of LDH [O^R = 1.022 (95% CI: 1.009, 1.035) ] and sIL-2R [O^R = 1.001 (95% CI: 1.000, 1.002) ] were the risk factors for BMI in patients with malignant lymphoma (P < 0.05). The ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of PLT for predicting BMI in malignant lymphoma patients was 0.683 when PLT was not higher than 186.565 × 109/L, with a sensitivity of 77.3% (95% CI: 0.579, 0.843), and a specificity of 64.5% (95% CI: 0.536, 0.809). The AUC of LDH for predicting BMI in malignant lymphoma patients was 0.754 when the level of LDH was not lower than 263.875 u/L, with a sensitivity of 68.2% (95% CI: 0.535, 0.809), and a specificity of 80.3% (95% CI: 0.646, 0.890). The AUC of sIL-2R for predicting BMI in malignant lymphoma patients was 0.670 when the level of sIL-2R was not lower than 2 554.500 u/mL, with a sensitivity of 63.6% (95% CI: 0.473, 0.757) and a specificity of 63.2% (95% CI: 0.494, 0.774). In addition, the AUC of the combined detection of the three for predicting BMI in malignant lymphoma patients was 0.824, with the sensitivity and the specificity being 81.8% (95% CI: 0.692, 0.920) and 81.6% (95% CI: 0.669, 0.906), respectively.Conclusions The decrease of PLT and the increases of serum LDH and sIL-2R levels are independent factors affecting and can be established as an auxiliary approach to predicting the occurrence of BMI in patients with malignant lymphoma, where the combination of the three indicators may further enhance the predictive efficacy.