R‐CHOP treatment for patients with advanced follicular lymphoma: Over 15‐year follow‐up of JCOG0203

Abstract

SummaryAnti‐CD20 antibody in combination with chemotherapy extends overall survival (OS) in untreated advanced‐stage follicular lymphoma (FL), yet the optimal associated therapy is unclear. Data on the cumulative incidence of secondary malignancies postrelapse after conventional immunochemotherapy are scarce. A long‐term analysis of rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R‐CHOP) as first‐line treatment was conducted in a randomised clinical trial. A six‐cycle R‐CHOP regimen was administered every 2 or 3 weeks without rituximab maintenance. A prespecified evaluation was conducted 15 years after the completion of enrolment, following initial analysis results that showed no significant differences in outcomes at the 3‐year mark. In‐depth analyses were performed on the cohort of 248 patients with FL who were allocated to the two treatment arms. With a median follow‐up period of 15.9 years, the 15‐year OS was 76.2%. There were no protocol treatment‐related deaths, nor were there any fatal infections attributable to subsequent lymphoma treatment. At 15 years, the cumulative incidence of non‐haematological and haematological malignancies was 12.8% and 3.7% respectively. Histological transformation appeared after a median of 8 years. R‐CHOP maintains safety and efficacy in patients with advanced FL over extended follow‐up, making it a viable first‐line option for patients with advanced‐stage FL.