CHICAGO – Lenalidomide plus rituximab (R2) demonstrated activity against relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) in the phase 3b MAGNIFY trial.
Jennifer Smith/MDedge News
Dr. David Jacob Andorsky
R2 produced responses in FL and MZL patients, including those who had previously experienced early relapse and patients who were refractory to rituximab or both lenalidomide and rituximab at baseline.
David Jacob Andorsky, MD, of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers in Boulder, Colo., and colleagues presented these results in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The ongoing MAGNIFY trial has enrolled 370 patients with relapsed/refractory FL (grade 1-3a) or MZL.
For induction, patients receive lenalidomide (20 mg per day on days 1-21 for 12 cycles) and rituximab (375 mg/m2 per week in cycle 1 and then on day 1 of cycles 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11). Patients who achieve stable disease or better on R2 induction are randomized to maintenance with R2 or rituximab alone.
Dr. Andorsky and colleagues presented results of R2 induction in 310 evaluable patients – 247 with FL and 63 with MZL.
The patients had a median age of 66 years (range, 35-91 years) at baseline, and they had received a median of two prior therapies (range, one to eight). Some patients had experienced early relapse (37%, n = 115), were refractory to rituximab (36%, n = 113), or were refractory to both rituximab and lenalidomide (20%, n = 63) at baseline.
Results
At a median follow-up of 16.7 months, the overall response rate was 73%, and the complete response rate was 45%. The overall response rate was 74% in FL patients, 65% in MZL patients, 63% in rituximab-refractory patients, 51% in double-refractory patients, and 68% in patients with an early relapse.
The median duration of response was 36.8 months in all patients, 35.8 months in MZL patients, and not reached in FL patients. The median duration of response was 35.8 months in patients who were rituximab refractory and was not reached in patients who were not refractory to rituximab.
The median progression-free survival was 36 months overall, 30 months in FL patients, 38 months in MZL patients, 23 months in patients with early relapse, and 15.5 months in double-refractory patients.
“While these [subgroup analyses of efficacy] were exploratory endpoints, I think this suggests that [R2] is a promising regimen for patients that are in the high-risk subgroup,” said Carla Casulo, MD, of the University of Rochester (N.Y.), who reviewed this study in a poster discussion session.
The most common adverse events in this trial were fatigue (48%), neutropenia (40%), diarrhea (35%), nausea (30%), and constipation (29%). The most common grade 3/4 adverse event was neutropenia (34%).
The MAGNIFY trial is sponsored by Celgene. Dr. Andorsky reported financial relationships with Celgene, CTI BioPharma, and Gilead Sciences. Dr. Casulo reported financial relationships with Gilead Sciences, Celgene, and Roche.
SOURCE: Andorsky DJ et al. ASCO 2019, Abstract 7513.