The addition of rituximab to a combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, mitoxantrone (FCM) significantly increases the response rate and prolongs survival as compared with FCM alone in patients with relapsed and refractory follicular and mantle cell lymphomas: results of a prospective randomized study of the German Low-Grade Lymphoma Study Group. Maintenance therapy with rituximab leads to a significant prolongation of response duration after salvage therapy with a combination of rituximab, fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and mitoxantrone (R-FCM) in patients with recurring and refractory follicular and mantle cell lymphomas: Results of a prospective randomized study of the German Low Grade Lymphoma Study Group (GLSG). Immunochemotherapy with rituximab and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone significantly improves response and time to treatment failure, but not long-term outcome in patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma: results of a prospective randomized trial of the German Low Grade Lymphoma Study Group (GLSG). Prospective, multicenter randomized GITMO/IIL trial comparing intensive (R-HDS) versus conventional (CHOP-R) chemoimmunotherapy in high-risk follicular lymphoma at diagnosis: the superior disease control of R-HDS does not translate into an overall survival advantage. CVP chemotherapy plus rituximab compared with CVP as first-line treatment for advanced follicular lymphoma. Frontline therapy with rituximab added to the combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) significantly improves the outcome for patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma compared with therapy with CHOP alone: results of a prospective randomized study of the German Low-Grade Lymphoma Study Group. Randomized, comparative study of high-dose (with autologous bone marrow support) versus low-dose cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carmustine as consolidation to adjuvant cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and fluorouracil for patients with operable stage II or III breast cancer involving 10 or more axillary lymph nodes (CALGB Protocol 9082). Cancer and Leukemia Group B. High-dose therapy followed by autologous purged stem cell transplantation and doxorubicin-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced follicular lymphoma: a randomized multicenter study by the GOELAMS with final results after a median follow-up of 9 years. Phase III study comparing chemotherapy and radiotherapy with preoperative chemotherapy and surgical resection in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer with spread to mediastinal lymph nodes (N2); final report of RTOG 89-01. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group.
In follicular lymphoma (FL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) the monoclonal antibody rituximab may improve the prognosis when combined with chemotherapy. This was investigated in a prospective randomized study in patients with relapsed disease. A total of 147 patients were randomized to receive 4 courses of chemotherapy with 25 mg/m(2) fludarabine on days 1 to 3, 200 mg/m(2) cyclophosphamide on days 1 to 3, and 8 mg/m(2) mitoxantrone on day 1 (FCM), alone or combined with rituximab (375 mg/m(2); R-FCM). Of 128 evaluable patients, 62 were randomized for FCM and 66 for R-FCM. R-FCM revealed an overall response rate of 79% (33% complete remission [CR], 45% partial remission [PR]) as compared with 58% for FCM alone (13% CR, 45% PR; P = .01), with similar results in a subgroup analysis of FL (94% vs 70%) and MCL (58% vs 46%). In the total group, the R-FCM arm was significantly superior concerning progression-free survival (PFS; P = .0381) and overall survival (OS; P = .0030). In FL PFS was significantly longer in the R-FCM arm (P = .0139) whereas in MCL a significantly longer OS was observed (P = .0042). There were no differences in clinically relevant side effects in both study arms. Hence, the addition of rituximab to FCM chemotherapy significantly improves the outcome of relapsed or refractory FL and MCL. In follicular lymphoma (FL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) the monoclonal antibody rituximab (R) improves the prognosis when combined with chemotherapy. The present study investigated R-maintenance after R-chemotherapy. Patients with recurring or refractory FL and MCL were randomized to 4 courses of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and mitoxantrone (FCM) alone or combined with R (R-FCM). Responding patients underwent a second randomization for R-maintenance comprising 2 further courses of 4-times-weekly doses of R after 3 and 9 months. The first randomization was stopped after 147 patients, when R-FCM revealed a significantly better outcome. All subsequent patients received R-FCM. Of the 176 patients who are currently evaluable (as of October 2005), 138 received R-FCM for remission induction. Response duration was significantly prolonged by R-maintenance after R-FCM, with the median not being reached in this evaluation versus an estimated median of 16 months (P = .001). This beneficial effect was also observed when analyzing FL (P = .035) and MCL (P = .049) separately. Hence, R-maintenance is effective after salvage with R-chemotherapy and significantly prolongs response duration in patients with recurring or refractory FL or MCL. Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is characterized by a poor prognosis with a low to moderate sensitivity to chemotherapy and a median survival of only 3 to 4 years. In an attempt to improve outcome, the German Low Grade Lymphoma Study Group (GLSG) initiated a randomized trial comparing the combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) and rituximab (R-CHOP) with CHOP alone as first-line therapy for advanced-stage MCL.
                One hundred twenty-two previously untreated patients with advanced-stage MCL were randomly assigned to six cycles of CHOP (n = 60) or R-CHOP (n = 62). Patients up to 65 years of age achieving a partial or complete remission underwent a second randomization to either myeloablative radiochemotherapy followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation or interferon alfa maintenance (IFNalpha). All patients older than 65 years received IFNalpha maintenance.
                R-CHOP was significantly superior to CHOP in terms of overall response rate (94% v 75%; P = .0054), complete remission rate (34% v 7%; P = .00024), and time to treatment failure (TTF; median, 21 v 14 months; P = .0131). No differences were observed for progression-free survival. Toxicity was acceptable, with no major differences between the two therapeutic groups.
                The combined immunochemotherapy with R-CHOP resulted in a significantly higher response rate and a prolongation of the TTF as compared with chemotherapy alone. Hence, R-CHOP may serve as a new baseline regimen for advanced stage MCL, but needs to be further improved by novel strategies in remission. In this randomized multicenter study of 136 patients, 6 courses of CHOP (cyclo-phosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone) followed by rituximab (CHOP-R) were compared with rituximab-supplemented high-dose sequential chemotherapy with autografting (R-HDS) to assess the value of intensified chemo-therapy as a first-line treatment for high-risk follicular lymphoma (FL) after the introduction of monoclonal antibodies. The analysis was intention to treat with event-free survival (EFS) as the primary endpoint. Complete remission (CR) was 62% with CHOP-R and 85% with R-HDS (P < .001). At a median follow-up (MFU) of 51 months, the 4-year EFS was 28% and 61%, respectively (P < .001), with no difference in overall survival (OS). Molecular remission (MR) was achieved in 44% of CHOP-R and 80% of R-HDS patients (P < .001), and was the strongest independent outcome predictor. Patients relapsing after CHOP-R underwent salvage R-HDS in 71% of cases. Salvage R-HDS had an 85% CR rate and a 68% 3-year EFS (MFU, 30 months). We conclude that (1) achieving MR is critical for effective disease control, regardless of which treatment is used; (2) R-HDS ensures superior disease control and molecular outcome than CHOP-R, but no OS improvement; and (3) CHOP-R failures have a good outcome after salvage R-HDS, suggesting that relapsed/refractory FL could be the most appropriate setting for R-HDS-like treatments. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as no. NCT00435955. The combination of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (CVP) is one of several standard treatment options for advanced follicular lymphoma. This, like similar chemotherapeutic regimens, induces response rates of 60% to 80%, with a median response duration of under 2 years. Rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against CD20, is active in follicular lymphoma, both as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy. Previously untreated patients with stages III to IV follicular lymphoma were randomly assigned to receive either 8 cycles of CVP plus rituximab (R-CVP; n = 162) or CVP (n = 159). Overall and complete response rates were 81% and 41% in the R-CVP arm versus 57% and 10% in the CVP arm, respectively (P < .0001). At a median follow-up of 30 months, patients treated with R-CVP had a very significantly prolonged time to progression (median 32 months versus 15 months for CVP; P < .0001). Median time to treatment failure was 27 months in patients receiving R-CVP and 7 months in the CVP arm (P < .0001). Rituximab did not add significantly to the toxicity of CVP. The addition of rituximab to the CVP regimen significantly improves the clinical outcome in patients with previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma, without increased toxicity. Phase 2 studies suggest that the monoclonal antibody rituximab may improve the prognosis of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) when it is added to chemotherapy. In the current study, 428 patients with untreated, advanced-stage FL were randomly assigned for therapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) alone (n = 205) or CHOP combined with rituximab (R-CHOP) (n = 223). R-CHOP reduced the relative risk for treatment failure by 60% and significantly prolonged the time to treatment failure (P < .001). In addition, a significantly higher overall response rate (96% vs 90%; P = .011) and a prolonged duration of remission (P = .001) were achieved. In spite of a relatively short observation time, these beneficial effects even translated to superior overall survival (P = .016), with 6 deaths in the R-CHOP group compared with 17 deaths in the CHOP group within the first 3 years. The predominant treatment-related adverse effect was myelosuppression. Severe granulocytopenia was more frequently observed after R-CHOP (63% vs 53%; P = .01). However, severe infections were rare and of similar frequency after R-CHOP and CHOP (5% and 7%). Hence, adding rituximab to CHOP significantly improves the outcome for patients with previously untreated advanced-stage FL and does not induce major adverse effects. The prognosis for patients with primary breast cancer involving multiple axillary lymph nodes is poor. Only about 30% of patients remain disease-free at 5 years from diagnosis despite surgery, conventional-dose chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. In nonrandomized studies, the use of high-dose chemotherapy as consolidation therapy after standard-dose induction chemotherapy has resulted in an apparent improvement in disease-free survival rates to over 70%. These results have prompted the National Cancer Institute to sponsor large-scale, multicenter, randomized comparative trials of this strategy. This Intergroup Study (Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9082, Southwest Oncology Group 9114, and National Cancer Institute of Canada MA13) compares two treatment strategies in women with primary breast cancer involving 10 or more axillary lymph nodes. Arms A and B are identical in the use of four cycles of conventional therapy with cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin and fluorouracil, radiation therapy, and tamoxifen. The only difference between the two arms is the dose intensity of the cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and carmustine given following conventional adjuvant treatment. Arm A dictates bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cell, and hematopoietic growth factor support and frequently requires a prolonged hospital stay with high resource utilization. Arm B, with its less dose-intensive therapy, requires considerably less support to apply the treatment. Because of the high cost of this therapy and the requirement for technology-intensive support, there has been considerable interest in economic outcome assessments. Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) as first-line therapy for follicular lymphoma (FL) remains controversial. The multicenter study randomized 172 patients with untreated FL for either immunochemotherapy or high-dose therapy (HDT) followed by purged ASCT. Conditioning was performed with total body irradiation (TBI) and cyclophosphamide. The 9-year overall survival (OS) was similar in the HDT and conventional chemotherapy groups (76% and 80%, respectively). The 9-year progression-free survival (PFS) was higher in the ASCT than the chemotherapy group (64% vs 39%; P = .004). A PFS plateau was observed in the HDT group after 7 years. On multivariate analysis, OS and PFS were independently affected by the per-formance status score, the number of nodal areas involved, and the treatment group. Secondary malignancies were more frequent in the HDT than in the chemotherapy group (6 secondary myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia and 6 second solid tumor cancers vs 1 acute myeloid leukemia, P = .01). The occurrence of a PFS plateau suggests that a subgroup of patients might have their FL cured by ASCT. However, the increased rate of secondary malignancies may discourage the use of purged ASCT in combination with TBI as first-line treatment for FL. This trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT00696735. To compare the outcome of treatment of mediastinoscopy-verified N2 non-small-cell lung cancer treated with induction chemotherapy followed by either surgery or radiotherapy (RT), with both options followed by consolidation chemotherapy.
                A randomized Phase III trial for Stage IIIA (T1-T3N2M0) non-small cell lung cancer was conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group between April 1990 and April 1994. After documentation of N2 disease by mediastinoscopy or anterior mediastinotomy, patients received induction chemotherapy with cisplatin, vinblastine, and mitomycin-C. Mitomycin-C was later dropped from the induction regimen. Patients were then randomized to surgery or RT (64 Gy in 7 weeks) followed by cisplatin and vinblastine.
                RTOG 89-01 accrued 75 patients, of whom 73 were eligible and analyzable. Twelve patients received induction chemotherapy but were not randomized to RT or surgery thereafter. Forty-five patients were randomized to postinduction RT or surgery. Of the analyzable patients, 90% had a Karnofsky performance score of 90-100, 18% had weight loss >5%, 37% had squamous cell histologic features, and 54% had bulky N2 disease. The distribution of bulky N2 disease was uniform among the treatment arms. The incidence of Grade 4 toxicity was 56% in patients receiving mitomycin-C and 29% in those who did not. Only 1 patient in each group had acute nonhematologic toxicity greater than Grade 3 (nausea and vomiting). No acute Grade 4 radiation toxicity developed. The incidences of long-term toxicity were equivalent across the arms. Three treatment-related deaths occurred: 2 patients in the surgical arms (one late pulmonary toxicity and one pulmonary embolus), and 1 patient in the radiation arm (radiation pneumonitis). Induction chemotherapy was completed in 78% of the patients. Complete resection was performed in 73% of 26 patients undergoing thoracotomy. Consolidation chemotherapy was completed in 75% of the patients. No statistically significant difference was found among the treatment arms. The overall progression-free survival rate was 53% at 1 year and 17% at 3 years. The median progression-free survival was 14 months. No difference in the 1-year survival rate (70% vs. 66%) or median survival time (19.4 vs. 17.4 months) between the surgery and RT arms. The median survival in the patients receiving induction chemotherapy only was 8.9 months. Mitomycin-C had no impact on survival (p = 0.75). No statistically significant difference was noted in the time to local failure between the surgical and RT arms.
                The patient accrual to this trial made its results inconclusive, but several observations are notable. In this trial, histologic confirmation of N2 disease in the surgical and nonsurgical arms eliminated the usual biases from clinical staging. In this setting, local control and survival were essentially equal between the surgical and RT arms. The 3- and 5-year survival rates of nonsurgical therapy were comparable to published surgical trials of N2 disease.
The systematic review demonstrated improved OS for patients with indolent lymphoma, particularly in the subgroups of follicular and in mantle cell lymphoma when treated with R-chemo compared to chemotherapy alone.