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Leo I. Gordon, MD, FACP
Leo I. Gordon, MD, FACP
Posted: Friday, August 5, 2022
For patients with intermediate- or high-risk, previously untreated, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the combination therapy of the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP) led to a significantly increased progression-free survival, according to a poster presentation given at the 2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference. This treatment regimen was shown to be more beneficial than the standard treatment of DLBCL of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP), explained Hervé Tilly, MD, PhD, of the Centre Henri Becquerel and the University of Rouen, France, and colleagues.
A total of 879 patients with previously untreated DLBCL were recruited for the double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III POLARIX study. All patients had an International Prognostic Index score of between 2 and 5. Patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with either polatuzumab vedotin plus R-CHP (n = 440) or R-CHOP (n = 439). They received six cycles of treatment plus two additional cycles of 375 mg/m2 of rituximab therapy.
The progression-free survival rate was 76.7% and 70.2% with polatuzumab vedotin plus R-CHP and R-CHOP, respectively. Additionally, the relative risk of disease progression, relapse, or death was reduced by 27% with the polatuzumab vedotin–based regimen as compared with R-CHOP (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.73). Furthermore, event-free and disease-free survival were better for patients treated with polatuzumab vedotin plus R-CHP versus R-CHOP (HR = 0.75 and 0.70, respectively). Treatment-related adverse events were comparable between polatuzumab vedotin plus R-CHP and R-CHOP and included neutropenia (28.3% vs. 30.8%), febrile neutropenia (13.8% vs. 8.0%), and anemia (12.0% vs. 8.4%), respectively.
“These results support the use of polatuzumab vedotin plus R-CHP in the initial management of patients with DLBCL,” explained the study authors.
Disclosure: No disclosures were provided.
2022 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference
