Dr. Phillips Discusses Novel Treatment Regimen in MCL

Tycel J. Phillips, MD, assistant professor, University of Michigan Cancer Center, discusses a novel treatment regimen for patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

In a study presented at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, all patients received the standard dose of bendamustine and rituximab (BR; Rituxan) at 80 mg/m² and 375 mg/m², respectively. Bendamustine was given on days 1 and 2 and rituximab was given on day 2 of the treatment cycle. The second-generation BTK inhibitor acalabrutinib (Calquence) was given at the standard dose of 100 mg daily.

The cohort of treatment-naïve patients were given the option of transitioning to rituximab maintenance therapy after initial treatment. Acalabrutinib also continued to be dosed daily, says Phillips. Relapsed/refractory patients were transitioned from initial treatment of BR plus acalabrutinib to acalabrutinib as a single agent.

At the meeting, investigators reported an overall response rate (ORR) of 94% in the treatment-naïve cohort, and a complete response (CR) rate of 72%. Median duration of response (DOR) and median progression-free survival had not been reached (NR) in this cohort. The relapsed/refractory (R/R) cohort saw an ORR of 80% and a CR rate of 65% with the combination. The median DOR for the R/R cohort was 15 months (95% CI, 12.2-NR), while median PFS was 16.6 months (95% CI, 14.2-NR).