Older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have an increased odds of experiencing treatment-related toxicities, even when treated with novel agents, according to findings reported in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology.
An analysis of 1,199 patients showed that CLL patients aged 65 years and older had significantly higher odds than younger patients of developing a grade three or four hematologic toxicity (adjusted odds ratio, 1.70; P = .009; 95% confidence interval, 1.57-1.84) or nonhematologic toxicity (OR, 1.47; P = .022; 95% CI, 1.39-1.55).
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Investigators analyzed data obtained from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology to compare the incidence of toxicities between age groups. Of the 1,199 patients included in the analysis, 409 were 65 years of age or older, and 790 were younger than 65 years. Among these patients, 438 received only therapy with novel agents including biologic combinations, monoclonal antibodies, cell cycle inhibitors, chemoimmunotherapy, and immunomodulators, and 761 received novel agents in addition to chemotherapy.
Overall, 68% of CLL patients and 35% of NHL patients had at least one grade three or four hematologic toxicity, compared with 48% and 54% for nonhematologic toxicities, respectively.
Older CLL patients with at least one grade three or four toxicity in the first 3 months had similar overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) as those without a toxicity. In contrast, older NHL patients with at least one grade three or four hematologic toxicity in the first 3 months had worse OS (HR, 3.14; P = .006; 95% CI, 2.25-4.39) and PFS (HR, 3.06; P = .011; 95% CI, 2.10-4.45) than patients without these toxicities. Nonhematologic toxicities were not significantly associated with survival outcomes for patients with NHL.
“The observed associations between hematologic toxicity and OS/PFS among older patients with NHL require further investigation,” the researchers wrote. “These findings could represent a direct effect of toxicity due to decreased physiologic reserve, decreased drug clearance, or an increased sensitivity of tissue to novel agents.”
The study was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant. Researchers reported relationships with Bartlett, KITE, Pfizer, Seattle Genetics, Roche-Genentech, Celgene, Pharmacyclics, and Gilead.
SOURCE: Tallarico M et al. J Geriatr Oncol. 2018 Apr 16. pii: S1879-4068(18)30131-0.