Prolonged clinical and molecular remission in patients with low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with rituximab plus CHOP chemotherapy:: 9-year follow-up

Purpose Long-term follow-up with updated time to disease progression (TTP) and duration of response (DR) data are presented from a multicenter, phase II trial of rituximab/cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) combination therapy in 40 patients with CD20(+), B-cell, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Revised response rates based on International Workshop Response Criteria are also provided. Patients and Methods Enrollment began in April 1994 and consisted of patients with histologically confirmed, low-grade, B-cell lymphoma who had received no prior chemotherapy or who had no more than four prior standard therapies. Patients received six cycles of CHOP and six infusions of rituximab. Results Eight (21%) of the 38 treated patients were classified as International Working Formulation (IWF) A, 16 (42%) were IWF B, 13 (34%) were IWF C, and one (3%) was IWF D. Nine (24%) of 38 patients had received prior chemotherapy. Nine (24%) of 38 were considered poor risk according to the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index. Overall response rate was 100%; 87% of patients achieved a complete response or unconfirmed complete response. The median TTP and DR were 82.3 months and 83.5 months, respectively. Seven of eight patients who were bcl-2 positive at baseline converted to negative, and three of the seven patients have sustained the molecular remission. Conclusion Although a cure has not been found yet for follicular NHL, the R-CHOP combination provides a lengthy response duration in patients with relapsed or newly diagnosed indolent NHL. (C) 2004 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.