In a nutshell
This study compared lenalidomide (Revlimid) with the doctor’s choice of medication in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. The study concluded that lenalidomide significantly improved outcomes for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
Some background
Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Many patients will relapse after first line treatment. MCL becomes more difficult to treat after multiple relapses. Lenalidomide is approved to treat patients with relapsed or refractory (difficult to treat) MCL. More research is needed to determine if lenalidomide is better treatment than traditional treatments (such as chemotherapies or other targeted therapies).
Methods & findings
254 patients participated in this study. 170 patients were randomized to receive lenalidomide. 84 patients were randomized to receive the doctor’s choice of treatment (DC; not lenalidomide). The average length of follow up was 41.3 months.
The average progression free survival (PFS; time from treatment to disease progression) for patients treated with lenalidomide was 8.6 months. The average PFS for patients treated with DC was 5.4 months. The PFS was significantly longer for patients treated with lenalidomide.
Lenalidomide especially increased PFS in patients over 65 years old (10.7 months) compared to patients treated with DC (4.3 months). Lenalidomide increased PFS in patients with high tumor burden (7 months) compared to patients treated with DC (3.5 months). Lenalidomide also improved outcomes for patients with high LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) levels, patients with advanced stage (III/IV) disease, and patients who did not respond well to their last treatment.
The average overall survival (time from treatment to death from any cause) was 27.8 months for patients treated with lenalidomide. The average overall survival for patients treated with the doctor’s choice of treatment was 21.2 months. The difference was not statistically significant.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that lenalidomide significantly increased progression free survival for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
Published By :
British Journal of Haematology
Date :
Nov 28, 2017
