Two drugs better than one in relapsed indolent lymphoma
The addition of lenalidomide to rituximab extends progression-free survival by two years, US study shows
Patients with relapsed or refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma enjoy two years of progression-free survival when lenalidomide is added to routine rituximab teatment, a study shows.
US researchers randomised 358 patients to IV rituximab plus either oral lenalidomide or placebo for 12 treatment cycles in the phase 3 clinical trial funded by the manufacturer of lenalidomide.
All patients (median age 63) had relapsed or refractory follicular or marginal-zone lymphoma and 24% had had three or more prior systemic treatments.Patients were followed for a median of 28 months.
Progression-free survival was a median of 39.4 months in the combination group compared with 14.1 months in the placebo group.
