학술논문
Maintenance therapy with rituximab leads to a significant prolongation of response duration after salvage therapy with a combination of rituximab, fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and mitoxantrone (R-FCM) in patients with recurring and refractory follicular and mantle cell lymphomas: results of a prospective randomized study of the German Low Grade Lymphoma Study Group (GLSG)
Document Type
Article
Author
Source
Blood; December 2006, Vol. 108 Issue: 13 p4003-4008, 6p
Subject
Language
ISSN
00064971; 15280020
Abstract
In follicular lymphoma (FL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) the monoclonal antibody rituximab (R) improves the prognosis when combined with chemotherapy. The present study investigated R-maintenance after R-chemotherapy. Patients with recurring or refractory FL and MCL were randomized to 4 courses of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and mitoxantrone (FCM) alone or combined with R (R-FCM). Responding patients underwent a second randomization for R-maintenance comprising 2 further courses of 4-times-weekly doses of R after 3 and 9 months. The first randomization was stopped after 147 patients, when R-FCM revealed a significantly better outcome. All subsequent patients received R-FCM. Of the 176 patients who are currently evaluable (as of October 2005), 138 received R-FCM for remission induction. Response duration was significantly prolonged by R-maintenance after R-FCM, with the median not being reached in this evaluation versus an estimated median of 16 months (P= .001). This beneficial effect was also observed when analyzing FL (P= .035) and MCL (P= .049) separately. Hence, R-maintenance is effective after salvage with R-chemotherapy and significantly prolongs response duration in patients with recurring or refractory FL or MCL.