RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A Success Story: How a Single Targeted-Therapy Molecule Impacted on Treatment and Outcome of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
JF Anticancer Research
JO Anticancer Res
FD International Institute of Anticancer Research
SP 2559
OP 2564
VO 34
IS 5
A1 MICHAEL MIAN
A1 FLORIAN AUGUSTIN
A1 FLORIAN KOCHER
A1 EBERHARD GUNSILIUS
A1 WOLFGANG WILLENBACHER
A1 AUGUST ZABERNIGG
A1 GÜNTHER ZANGERL
A1 HORST OEXLE
A1 STEFAN SCHREIECK
A1 MICHAEL SCHNALLINGER
A1 MICHAEL FIEGL
YR 2014
UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/34/5/2559.abstract
AB Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a rather aggressive disease and the natural course of this lymphoma is very dismal. However, first the introduction of anthracycline-containing chemotherapy regimens and then the addition of rituximab were important steps forward. Since no complete real-life analyses have yet been published, we analyzed all patients with DLBCL treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP) in the whole region of Tyrol and compared the results to a historical CHOP(-like)-treated cohort. Two hundred and nineteen consecutive patients underwent R-CHOP and 72% achieved a complete remission (CR); 20% suffered a relapse and 31% died. 5-Year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 56% and 69%, respectively. We identified several parameters influencing PFS and OS significantly in univariate analysis, but only stage III/IV and hemoglobin <13 g/dl were independent prognosticators for PFS and age >60 years for OS. In comparison to the CHOP(-like)-treated group, the CR rate was similar, while the percentage of relapse was nearly twice in the historical cohort, namely 44%. This translated into a dramatically improved PFS and OS for the R-CHOP group. In conclusion, in a real-life setting R-CHOP results in high percentages of response and long-term remission. Moreover we showed that in the rituximab era, factors other than the single parameters of the international prognostic index significantly influence PFS and OS. Finally, we confirm the independent impact of rituximab on the outcome of an unselected population with DLBCL.