• DOI:10.1200/JCO.2013.53.2069
• Corpus ID: 8842044

Mature results of a phase II study of rituximab therapy for nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.

@article{Advani2014MatureRO,
  title={Mature results of a phase II study of rituximab therapy for nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.},
  author={Ranjana H Advani and Sandra J. Horning and Richard T. Hoppe and Sarah E. Daadi and John J. B. Allen and Yasodha Natkunam and Nancy L. Bartlett},
  journal={Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology},
  year={2014},
  volume={32 9},
  pages={
          912-8
        }
}

• R. Advani, S. Horning, +4 authors N. Bartlett
• Published 20 March 2014
• Medicine
• Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology

PURPOSE
Universal expression of CD20 by malignant cells in nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) led us to evaluate rituximab (R) as a therapeutic option.

PATIENT AND METHODS
Patients with previously treated or newly diagnosed NLPHL were treated with R (375 mg/m(2) once per week for 4 weeks) or, after a protocol amendment, with R plus R maintenance (MR; administered once every 6 months for 2 years). Primary and secondary outcome measures were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall response rate (ORR), respectively.

RESULTS
A total of 39 patients were enrolled (R, n = 23; R + MR, n = 16). After four once-per-week treatments, ORR was 100% (complete response, 67%; partial response, 33%). At median follow-ups of 9.8 years for R and 5 years for R + MR, median PFS were 3 and 5.6 years (P = .26), respectively; median overall survival (OS) was not reached. Estimated 5-year PFS and OS for patients treated with R versus R + MR were 39.1% (95% CI, 23.5 to 65.1) and 95.7% (95% CI, 87.7 to 100) versus 58.9% (95% CI, 38.0 to 91.2) and 85.7% (95% CI, 69.2 to 100), respectively. Nine of 23 patients experiencing relapse had evidence of transformation to aggressive B-cell lymphoma; six of these patients had infradiaphragmatic involvement at study entry.

CONCLUSION
R is an active agent in NLPHL. Although responses are not durable in most patients, a significant minority experience remissions lasting > 5 years. R + MR results in a nonsignificant increase in PFS compared with R. R may be considered in the relapsed setting for NLPHL. The potential for transformation of NLPHL to aggressive B-cell lymphoma underscores the importance of rebiopsy and long-term follow-up.