Dr. Leslie Discusses 2017 ASH Annual Meeting Updates

Lori A. Leslie, MD, lymphoma attending, John Theurer Cancer Center, discusses trial updates for patients with follicular lymphoma in the maintenance setting, which were presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

The 10-year follow up of PRIMA, the randomized study looking at 2 years of maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) versus observation post-upfront immunochemotherapy, reported a greater than 50% progression-free survival (PFS) in the maintenance arm versus 35% in the observation arm.

An ad hoc analysis from the BRIGHT study looked at patients who received maintenance rituximab at the investigator’s discretion post bendamustine and rituximab, or R-CHOP/R-CVP therapy. There was a significant PFS benefit with maintenance rituximab compared with observation alone, but no overall survival benefit.

The BIONIC study looked at the use of bortezomib (Velcade) in the induction setting with or without the addition of lenalidomide (Revlimid) in the maintenance setting. This showed no increase in efficacy, but increased toxicity with the addition of these agents.