Superior quality and duration of responses among patients with mantle-cell lymphoma treated with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide with or without rituximab compared with prior responses to CHOP

Sixteen patients with relapsed mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) were treated with the combination of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide (FC) with or without rituximab. All patients had received prior CHOP ( cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, prednisone) chemotherapy, with a response rate of 63.5% (25% complete response), and a median duration of response of 10 months ( range 1 - 32 months). Subsequent treatment with FC +/- rituximab produced a response rate of 75% with a higher complete response rate (56% P = 0.07 vs. CHOP), and a median duration of response of 11 months ( 4 - 25+ months). This study demonstrates that FC is a highly active regimen in patients relapsing following CHOP chemotherapy.