Indexed in

License and use

Citations

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Arnan Sangerman, MontserratAuthorGonzalez Barca, Eva MariaAuthor

Share

R-ESHAP as salvage therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: the influence of prior exposure to rituximab on outcome. A GEL/TAMO study

Publicated to:Haematologica. 93 (12): 1829-1836 - 2008-01-01 93(12), DOI: 10.3324/haematol.13440

Authors: Martín A, Conde E, Arnan M, Canales MA, Deben G, Sancho JM, Andreu R, Salar A, García-Sanchez P, Vázquez L, Nistal S, Requena MJ, Donato EM, González JA, León A, Ruiz C, Grande C, González-Barca E, Caballero MD, Grupo Español de Linfomas/Trasplante Autólogo de Médula Osea (GEL/TAMO Cooperative Group).

Affiliations

Abstract

Background: The role of re-treatment with rituximab in aggressive B-cell lymphomas still needs to be defined. This study evaluated the influence of prior exposure to rituximab on response rates and survival in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab plus etoposide, cytarabine, cisplatinum and methylprednisolone (R-ESHAP). Design and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 163 patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who received R-ESHAP as salvage therapy with a curative purpose. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether rituximab had been administered (n=94, R+ group) or not (n=69, R- group) prior to R-ESHAP. Results: Response rates were significantly higher in the R- group in the univariate but not in the multivariate analysis. In the analysis restricted to the R+ group, we observed very low complete remission and overall response rates in patients with primary refractory disease (8% and 33%, respectively), as compared to those in patients who were in first partial remission (41% and 86%) or who had relapsed disease (50% and 75%) (p<0.01 in both cases). Overall, 60% and 65% of patients in the R+ and R- groups, respectively, underwent stem-cell transplantation after the salvage therapy. With a median follow-up of 29 months (range, 6-84), patients in the R+ group had significantly worse progression-free survival (17% vs. 57% at 3 years, p<0.0001) and overall survival (38% v 67% at 3 years, p=0.0005) than patients in the R- group. Prior exposure to rituximab was also an independent adverse prognostic factor for both progression-free survival (RR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.2-3.3, p=0.008) and overall survival (RR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3-3.9, p=0.004). Conclusions: R-ESHAP was associated with a high response rate in patients who were not refractory to upfront rituximab-based chemotherapy. However, the survival outcome was poor for patients previously exposed to rituximab, as compared to in those who had not previously been treated with rituximab. ©2008 Ferrata Storti Foundation.

Keywords