Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) prognosis

Your individual prognosis will depend on the stage of the DLBCL, the treatment you have and how well the disease responds to the treatment.

Most people with DLBCL are cured with standard R-CHOP chemotherapy. If the lymphoma responds well to treatment and goes into remission (meaning there's no lymphoma left), then you may not need any further treatment.

Depending on the amount and type of treatment you’ve had, it may take some time to get back to your normal health.

Around 10-15% of people with DLBCL (10 to 15 people in every hundred) have refractory disease, which means the DLBCL doesn’t respond to standard treatment. And for between 20% and 30% of people (20 to 30 people in every hundred), the DLBCL will come back after remission (it’ll relapse), usually in the first two years.

Refractory and relapsed DLBCL are more difficult to treat, but there are still many treatment options that can lead to remission. We have more information about treatment for relapsed and refractory DLBCL.

We have general information about things that might affect your prognosis, but everyone is different. If you want to know about your personal prognosis, your healthcare team are the best people to ask. They know you and your individual situation.

Our research in lymphoma has focused on improving treatments. Read about our scientific impact on lymphoma.