Dr. Ruan on Long-Term Findings With Lenalidomide Plus Rituximab in MCL

Jia Ruan, MD, PhD, associate professor of clinical medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses long-term findings with lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

The long-term survival outcomes from the combination of lenalidomide and rituximab in patients with MCL were presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting. When used as an initial treatment in this population, this combination can achieve a high complete response (CR) rate and minimal residual disease (MRD)- negativity.

Previous results have shown that this combination induces an overall response rate of 92% and a CR rate of 64%, warranting further investigation in a phase III trial. Ruan says that at 4 years, 70% of patients remained in remission and 83% are alive and have good quality of life. Additionally, 80% of the 10 patients who had over 3 years of treatment could achieve MRD-negative CRs, which Ruan says is very promising.

Considering these results, Ruan poses the question of whether, clinicians will be able stop treatment or use a response-adaptive approach to provide chronic therapy.