PracticeUpdate: Haematology & Oncology

CONFERENCE COVERAGE 14

Dr David Straus discusses his abstract picks fromASH 2016

Plenary scientific session Abstract 6: Obinutuzumab-based induction and maintenance prolongs progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma: primary results of the randomized phase 3 GALLIUM Study. RE Marcus, AJ Davies, K Ando et al This study included 1202 patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma enrolled in GALLIUM, a global, open- label, phase 3 study, who were randomised to receive rituximab or obinutuzumab with chemotherapy. After a median of 34.5 months of follow-up, there was a 34% reduced risk for progression or death in patients receiving obinutuzumab compared with rituximab, with 3-year INV-assessed PFS rates of 80% and 73.3%, respectively. Patients receiving obinutuzumab reported a higher frequency of grade 3 to 5 AEs compared with patients receiving rituximab (74.6% vs 67.8%); however, fatal AE frequency was similar between the two groups. These results demonstrate a clinically meaningful improvement with obinutuzumab- based chemotherapy and maintenance,

suggesting a new standard of care for patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma. Aggressive lymphoma (diffuse large B-cell and other aggressive B-cell non- Hodgkin lymphomas) – results from prospective clinical trials Abstract 469: Phase III randomized study of R-CHOP versus DA-EPOCH-R and molecular analysis of untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: CALGB/Alliance 50303. WH Wilson, J sin-Ho, BN Pitcher, et al This phase 3 study compared R-CHOP (arm A) and DA-EPOCH-R (arm B) in patients with recently diagnosed stage II or higher DLBCL. Participants were at least 18 years old and HIV-negative and were randomised 1:1 (n=524; 262 per arm) to receive the interventions. Participants in arm B had more grade 4 neutropenia (90% vs 56%), grade 4 thrombocytopenia (35% vs 6%), grade 3/4 febrile neutropenia (37% vs 19%), and grade 3 neuropathy (motor, 8% vs 1%; sensory, 15% vs 3%). Both arms had similar grade 5 events. There was no difference between the groups on analysis of event-free survival (HR, 1.02;

David Straus, MD, is attending physician on the Lymphoma Service in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and contributor to PracticeUpdate Oncology .

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PRACTICEUPDATE HAEMATOLOGY & ONCOLOGY