BACKGROUND: Rituximab combined with chemotherapy has improved the survival of previously untreated patients with follicular lymphoma (FL). Nevertheless, many patients neither want nor can tolerate chemotherapy, leading to interest in biological approaches. Epratuzumab is a humanized anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody with efficacy in relapsed FL. Because both rituximab and epratuzumab have single-agent activity in FL, the antibody combination was evaluated as initial treatment of patients with FL. METHODS: Fifty-nine untreated patients with FL received epratuzumab 360 mg/m2 with rituximab 375 mg/m2 weekly for 4 induction doses. This combination was continued as extended induction in weeks 12, 20, 28, and 36. Response assessed by computed tomography was correlated with clinical risk factors, [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography findings at week 3, Fcγ polymorphisms, immunohistochemical markers, and statin use. RESULTS: Therapy was well-tolerated, with toxicities similar to expected with rituximab monotherapy. Fifty-two (88.2%) evaluable patients responded, including 25 complete responses (42.4%) and 27 partial responses (45.8%). At 3 years follow-up, 60% of patients remain in remission. Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) risk strongly predicted progression-free survival (P = .022). CONCLUSIONS: The high response rate and prolonged time to progression observed with this antibody combination are comparable to those observed after standard chemoimmunotherapies and further support the development of biologic, nonchemotherapeutic approaches for these patients.
BACKGROUND:Rituximab combined with chemotherapy has improved the survival of previously untreated patients with follicular lymphoma (FL). Nevertheless, many patients neither want nor can tolerate chemotherapy, leading to interest in biological approaches. Epratuzumab is a humanized anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody with efficacy in relapsed FL. Because both rituximab and epratuzumab have single-agent activity in FL, the antibody combination was evaluated as initial treatment of patients with FL. METHODS: Fifty-nine untreated patients with FL received epratuzumab 360 mg/m2 with rituximab 375 mg/m2 weekly for 4 induction doses. This combination was continued as extended induction in weeks 12, 20, 28, and 36. Response assessed by computed tomography was correlated with clinical risk factors, [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography findings at week 3, Fcγ polymorphisms, immunohistochemical markers, and statin use. RESULTS: Therapy was well-tolerated, with toxicities similar to expected with rituximab monotherapy. Fifty-two (88.2%) evaluable patients responded, including 25 complete responses (42.4%) and 27 partial responses (45.8%). At 3 years follow-up, 60% of patients remain in remission. Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) risk strongly predicted progression-free survival (P = .022). CONCLUSIONS: The high response rate and prolonged time to progression observed with this antibody combination are comparable to those observed after standard chemoimmunotherapies and further support the development of biologic, nonchemotherapeutic approaches for these patients.
Authors: B D Cheson; S J Horning; B Coiffier; M A Shipp; R I Fisher; J M Connors; T A Lister; J Vose; A Grillo-López; A Hagenbeek; F Cabanillas; D Klippensten; W Hiddemann; R Castellino; N L Harris; J O Armitage; W Carter; R Hoppe; G P Canellos Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 1999-04 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: John P Leonard; Morton Coleman; Jamie C Ketas; Amy Chadburn; Scott Ely; Richard R Furman; William A Wegener; Hans J Hansen; Heather Ziccardi; Michael Eschenberg; Urte Gayko; Alessandra Cesano; David M Goldenberg Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2003-07-01 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: Michele Ghielmini; Shu-Fang Hsu Schmitz; Sergio B Cogliatti; Gabriella Pichert; Jörg Hummerjohann; Ursula Waltzer; Martin F Fey; Daniel C Betticher; Giovanni Martinelli; Fedro Peccatori; Urs Hess; Emanuele Zucca; Roger Stupp; Tibor Kovacsovics; Claudine Helg; Andreas Lohri; Mario Bargetzi; Daniel Vorobiof; Thomas Cerny Journal: Blood Date: 2004-02-19 Impact factor: 22.113
Authors: Josette Carnahan; Paul Wang; Richard Kendall; Ching Chen; Sylvia Hu; Tom Boone; Todd Juan; Jane Talvenheimo; Silvia Montestruque; Jilin Sun; Gary Elliott; John Thomas; John Ferbas; Brent Kern; Robert Briddell; John P Leonard; Alessandra Cesano Journal: Clin Cancer Res Date: 2003-09-01 Impact factor: 12.531
Authors: J W Sweetenham; B Goldman; M L LeBlanc; J R Cook; R R Tubbs; O W Press; D G Maloney; R I Fisher; L M Rimsza; R M Braziel; E D Hsi Journal: Ann Oncol Date: 2009-10-29 Impact factor: 32.976
Authors: Sandeep S Dave; George Wright; Bruce Tan; Andreas Rosenwald; Randy D Gascoyne; Wing C Chan; Richard I Fisher; Rita M Braziel; Lisa M Rimsza; Thomas M Grogan; Thomas P Miller; Michael LeBlanc; Timothy C Greiner; Dennis D Weisenburger; James C Lynch; Julie Vose; James O Armitage; Erlend B Smeland; Stein Kvaloy; Harald Holte; Jan Delabie; Joseph M Connors; Peter M Lansdorp; Qin Ouyang; T Andrew Lister; Andrew J Davies; Andrew J Norton; H Konrad Muller-Hermelink; German Ott; Elias Campo; Emilio Montserrat; Wyndham H Wilson; Elaine S Jaffe; Richard Simon; Liming Yang; John Powell; Hong Zhao; Neta Goldschmidt; Michael Chiorazzi; Louis M Staudt Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2004-11-18 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Maximillian Rosario; Bai Liu; Lin Kong; Lynne I Collins; Stephanie E Schneider; Xiaoyue Chen; Kaiping Han; Emily K Jeng; Peter R Rhode; Jeffrey W Leong; Timothy Schappe; Brea A Jewell; Catherine R Keppel; Keval Shah; Brian Hess; Rizwan Romee; David R Piwnica-Worms; Amanda F Cashen; Nancy L Bartlett; Hing C Wong; Todd A Fehniger Journal: Clin Cancer Res Date: 2015-09-30 Impact factor: 12.531
Authors: Juan Du; Sandra Lopez-Verges; Brandelyn N Pitcher; Jeffrey Johnson; Sin-Ho Jung; Lili Zhou; Katharine Hsu; Myron S Czuczman; Bruce Cheson; Lawrence Kaplan; Lewis L Lanier; Jeffrey M Venstrom Journal: Cancer Immunol Res Date: 2014-06-23 Impact factor: 11.151
Authors: Ranjana H Advani; Daniel Lebovic; Andy Chen; Mark Brunvand; Andre Goy; Julie E Chang; Ephraim Hochberg; Sreeni Yalamanchili; Robert Kahn; Dan Lu; Priya Agarwal; Randall C Dere; Hsin-Ju Hsieh; Surai Jones; Yu-Waye Chu; Bruce D Cheson Journal: Clin Cancer Res Date: 2016-09-06 Impact factor: 12.531