Dr. Yasenchak on Brentuximab Vedotin Added to R-CHOP in DLBCL

Christopher A. Yasenchak, MD, associate chair of Hematology Research, Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and Research Center/US Oncology Research, discusses results of a study examining the addition of brentuximab vedotin to R-CHOP for the treatment of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

The patient population enrolled in this randomized phase II study consisted of those who were newly diagnosed with intermediate- or high-risk disease. The median 3-year progression-free survival in this subset is approximately 55%, Yasenchak adds. Patients are likely to fail frontline therapy and require salvage chemotherapy, autologous stem cell transplantation, or mini-allo stem cell transplant.

Therefore, researchers investigated whether adding brentuximab vedotin to R-CHOP would improve these outcomes. Patients received either brentuximab vedotin at 1.8 mg/kg or 1.2 mg/kg every 3 weeks for 6 cycles. The 1.8 mg/kg dose was associated with significant neurotoxicity, Yasenchak adds. As a result, all remaining patients receiving the higher dosage were reduced to the 1.2 mg/kg cohort.