Life expectancy of follicular lymphoma patients in complete response at 30 months is similar to that of the Spanish general population

<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p>The use of immunochemotherapy has improved the outcome of follicular lymphoma (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FL</jats:styled-content>). Recently, complete response at 30 months (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30) has been suggested as a surrogate for progression‐free survival. This study aimed to analyse the life expectancy of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FL</jats:styled-content> patients according to their status at 30 months from the start of treatment in comparison with the sex and age‐matched Spanish general population (relative survival; <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RS</jats:styled-content>). The training series comprised 263 patients consecutively diagnosed with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FL</jats:styled-content> in a 10‐year period who needed therapy and were treated with rituximab‐containing regimens. An independent cohort of 693 <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FL</jats:styled-content> patients from the Grupo Español de Linfomas y Trasplante Autólogo de Médula Ósea (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GELTAMO</jats:styled-content>) group was used for validation. In the training cohort, 188 patients were in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30, with a 10‐year overall survival (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">OS</jats:styled-content>) of 53% and 87% for non‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30 and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30 patients, respectively. Ten‐year <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RS</jats:styled-content> was 73% and 100%, showing no decrease in life expectancy for <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30 patients. Multivariate analysis indicated that the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FL</jats:styled-content> International Prognostic Index was the most important variable predicting <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">OS</jats:styled-content> in the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30 group. The impact of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content>30 status on <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">RS</jats:styled-content> was validated in the independent <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GELTAMO</jats:styled-content> series. In conclusion, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FL</jats:styled-content> patients treated with immunochemotherapy who were in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CR</jats:styled-content> at 30 months showed similar survival to a sex‐ and age‐matched Spanish general population.</jats:p>