BMC Cancer 2009, 9:153 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/9/153 Table 1: Distribution of patients by baseline clinical variables. Variable Sex Age GCSF Stage Chemotherapy B symptoms ECOG Performance status Plasma LDH concentration (mU/L) Bone marrow aspirate Bone marrow trephine Category Female Male Less than 75 years 75 years or older CHOP PMitCEBO No Yes I II III IV No Yes 0 1 2 3 4 No data Normal (0.2–0.5) Elevated (> 0.5) No data Not involved Involved No data Not involved Involved No data Number (%) N = 664 311 (46.8) 353 (53.2) 496 (74.7) 168 (25.3) 334 (50.3) 330 (49.7) 330 (49.7) 334 (50.3) 70 (10.5) 176 (26.5) 193 (29.1) 225 (33.9) 311 (46.8) 353 (53.2) 206 (31.0) 264 (39.8) 131 (19.7) 39 (5.9) 13 (2.0) 11 (1.7) 216 (32.5) 381 (57.4) 67 (10.1) 508 (76.5) 57 (8.6) 99 (14.9) 487 (73.3) 89 (13.4) 88 (13.3) ated with diminished performance status, elevated LDH and a positive bone marrow aspirate (Table 4). Patients who had received GCSF were also more likely to experi- ence grade 3 or 4 anaemia. There were no statistically sig- nificant associations with the other variables considered. The association between B symptoms and anaemia per- sisted in a reduced logistic regression model after adjust- ment for receipt of GCSF and elevated LDH (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.1–4.7 – Table 5). Thrombocytopenia Grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia was associated with the presence of B symptoms in univariate analysis and occurred in 6% and 14% of patients with A and B symp- toms, respectively (p < 0.001, Table 4). Other features associated with thrombocytopenia were age 75 or older, stage 3 or 4 disease, level 3 or 4 performance status, ele- vated LDH, positive bone marrow aspirate and positive bone marrow trephine. There were marginally non-signif- icant associations with type of chemotherapy and receipt of GCSF, but no association with sex. In multivariate anal- ysis, however, the significant association between B symp- toms and thrombocytopenia was not sustained after adjustment for performance status, LDH, bone marrow trephine and type of chemotherapy (Table 5). Non-haematological toxicity There were no associations between B symptoms and mucositis, neuropathy or skin rashes. In univariate analy- ses moderate to very severe (grades 2–4) nausea and vom- Page 4 of 10 (page number not for citation purposes)