Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of low T3 syndrome in peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs).

Methods: One hundred and seventy-four patients of newly diagnosed PTCLs were enrolled in the study. We performed statistical analysis based on the clinical data collected.

Results: Thirty-Six (20.69%) patients had low T3 syndrome at first admission. Results suggested that the patients with higher score of ECOG PS, International Prognostic Index (IPI) and Prognostic Index for T-cell lymphoma (PIT), bone marrow involvement and lower level of albumin tended to develop low T3 syndrome. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 10 months and 36 months, respectively, for all patients. Pre-existing low T3 syndrome was in correlation with worse PFS and OS. Patients with low T3 syndrome showed worse PFS (4 months vs 13 months, P = 0.0001) and OS (7 months vs 83 months, P < 0.0001) than patients without low T3 syndrome. IPI and PIT, respectively, combined with low T3 syndrome improved the ability to predict OS and PFS of PTCLs.

Conclusions: The study indicated that low T3 syndrome may be a good candidate for predicting prognosis of peripheral T-cell lymphomas.