In a nutshell
This study is a review of the effectiveness of rituximab maintenance therapy for patients with follicular lymphoma. The authors concluded rituximab maintenance improves survival outcomes for patients with follicular lymphoma.
Some background
Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is most commonly treated with chemotherapy plus rituximab followed by maintenance rituximab (MR). MR has increased progression free survival (time from treatment to disease progression) in patients with FL. However, it is unclear if MR increases overall survival (time from treatment to death from any cause). More research is needed to determine of MR increases overall survival in patients with FL.
Methods & findings
This study (meta-analysis) used patient data from 7 previous studies. The medical records of 2,315 patients were reviewed. 1,145 patients received MR. 1,170 patients were observed. All patients had FL. The average length of follow up was 6 years.
The average overall survival for patients in the MR group was 12 years. The average overall survival for patients in the observation group was 11.5 years. Patients in the MR group were 21% less likely to die than patients in the observation group.
Patients in the MR group were 43% less likely to have progressive disease at the end of follow up compared to patients in the observation group.
Patients in the MR group were more likely to experience an adverse event (52%) compared to the observation group (40%). The most common adverse event was infection. 33.6% of MR patients and 23.6% of observation patients got an infection.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that patients with follicular lymphoma treated with rituximab maintenance therapy have better survival outcomes compared to patients who are only observed.
Published By :
European journal of cancer
Date :
May 01, 2017
