Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• GHIELMINI, Michele
• SCHMITZ, Shu-Fang Hsu
• HESS, Urs
• ZUCCA, Emanuele
• STUPP, Roger
• KOVACSOVICS, Tibor
• HELG, Claudine
• LOHRI, Andreas
• BARGETZI, Mario
• VOROBIOF, Daniel
• CERNY, Thomas
• COGLIATTI, Sergio B
• PICHERT, Gabriella
• HUMMERJOHANN, Jörg
• WALTZER, Ursula
• FEY, Martin F
• BETTICHER, Daniel C
• MARTINELLI, Giovanni
• PECCATORI, Fedro

Titel

Prolonged treatment with rituximab in patients with follicular lymphoma significantly increases event-free survival and response duration compared with the standard weekly x 4 schedule

Ist Teil von

• Blood, 2004-06, Vol.103 (12), p.4416-4423

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: The Americain Society of Hematology

Erscheinungsjahr

2004

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The potential benefits of extended rituximab treatment have been investigated in a randomized trial comparing the standard schedule with prolonged treatment in 202 patients with newly diagnosed or refractory/relapsed follicular lymphoma (FL). All patients received standard treatment (rituximab 375 mg/m(2) weekly x 4). In 185 evaluable patients, the overall response rate was 67% in chemotherapy-naive patients and 46% in pretreated cases (P <.01). Patients responding or with stable disease at week 12 (n = 151) were randomized to no further treatment or prolonged rituximab administration (375 mg/m(2) every 2 months for 4 times). At a median follow-up of 35 months, the median event-free survival (EFS) was 12 months in the no further treatment versus 23 months in the prolonged treatment arm (P =.02), the difference being particularly notable in chemotherapy-naive patients (19 vs 36 months; P =.009) and in patients responding to induction treatment (16 vs 36 months; P =.004). The number of t(14;18)-positive cells in peripheral blood (P =.0035) and in bone marrow (P =.0052) at baseline was predictive for clinical response. Circulating normal B lymphocytes and immunoglobulin M (IgM) plasma levels decreased for a significantly longer time after prolonged treatment, but the incidence of adverse events was not increased. In patients with FL, the administration of 4 additional doses of rituximab at 8-week intervals significantly improves the EFS.