No Evident Prognostic Benefit of Statin Use in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Patients with Unfavorable Disease Features Treated with R-DA-EPOCH

Abstract

Recent reports indicate that patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas might benefit if concomitantly receiving statins with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine (Oncovin) and prednisone immunochemotherapy. We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 130 newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphomas with unfavorable clinical features treated with first-line rituximab, dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine [Oncovin], cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin (R-DA-EPOCH) immunochemotherapy in period 2005–2019. A total of 17/130 (13.1%) patients received statins concomitantly with immunochemotherapy, mostly atorvastatin and in intermediate statin dose intensity. Besides tendency to be associated with older age (<i>p</i> = 0.070), there were no other significant associations of statins use with neither sex, disease stage, R-IPI, or other unfavorable disease features (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05 for all analyses). Also, no significant differences were present considering feasibility (number of cycles with dose escalation/reduction), toxicity (number of cycles with anemia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, and septic complications) nor efficacy (response rates) of R-DA-EPOCH regimen (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05 for all analyses). Also, statin use had no significant association with neither OS (<i>p</i> = 0.480) nor PFS (<i>p</i> = 0.891). Lack of associations of statin use with relevant clinical outcomes was further corroborated by multivariate analyses.