Overexpression of SOCS3 is associated with decreased survival in a cohort of patients with de novo follicular lymphoma.

The prognostic significance of SOCS3 protein expression was determined in de novo follicular lymphomas (FL) with t(14;18) and bcl-2 overexpression. Presentation lymph nodes from 82 FL patients for whom clinical information was available were immunohistochemically segregated into SOCS3-positive (n = 42) or -negative (n = 40) cohorts, and overall survival (OS) was analysed. SOCS3-positive FL patients had a median OS of 10 years compared with 22 years in SOCS3-negative patients (P = 0.001, log rank test). After adjusting for Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index subgroups, SOCS3 overexpression remained an independent predictor of decreased OS (P < 0.001). These findings suggest that overexpression of SOCS3 may be an independent poor prognostic variable in patients with de novo FL.