Dose-adjusted EPOCH-R (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and rituximab) in untreated aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with MYC rearrangement: a prospective, multicentre, single-arm phase 2 study

This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01092182).Findings53 patients were enrolled, with median age of 61 years (range 29–80; IQR 50–70); 43 (81%) patients had stage III–IV disease and 26 (49%) had high-intermediate or high international prognostic index (IPI) scores. 19 patients had confirmed MYC rearrangement alone (single-hit) and 24 also had rearrangement of BCL2, BCL6, or both (double-hit), with similar characteristics between these two groups. After a median follow-up of 55·6 months (IQR 50·5–61·1), 48-month event-free survival was 71·0% (95% CI 56·5–81·4) and 48-month overall survival was 76·7% (95% CI 62·6–86·1) for all patients. Toxicity included grade 4 neutropenia in 160 (53%) of 301 cycles, grade 4 thrombocytopenia in 40 (13%) cycles, and any grade of fever with neutropenia in 56 (19%) cycles. There were three treatment-related deaths (all infections).InterpretationIn this study, DA-EPOCH-R produced durable remission in patients with MYC-rearranged aggressive B-cell lymphomas and should be considered for the treatment of these diseases.FundingCancer Trials Support Unit and Center for Cancer Research of the National Cancer Institute and Genentech.
Source: The Lancet Haematology - Category: Hematology Source Type: research