Open AccessRituximab in addition to LMB-based chemotherapy regimen in children and adolescents with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma: results of the French LMB2001 prospective study
Author(s) -
Marie Émilie Dourthe,
Aurélie Phulpin,
Anne Aupérin,
Jacques Bosq,
MarieLaure Couec,
Peggy Dartigues,
Stéphane Ducassou,
Nathalie Garnier,
Stéphanie Haouy,
Thierry Leblanc,
Amaury Leruste,
Catherine Paillard,
Charlotte Rigaud,
Mathieu Simonin,
Catherine Patte,
Véronique MinardColin
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
haematologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1592-8721
pISSN - 0390-6078
DOI - 10.3324/haematol.2021.280257
Subject(s) - medicine , rituximab , vincristine , hazard ratio , interquartile range , regimen , chemotherapy regimen , etoposide , population , chemotherapy , surgery , prednisone , cyclophosphamide , confidence interval , lymphoma , environmental health
Primary Mediastinal large B-cell Lymphoma (PMLBL) is a rare entity predominantly affecting adolescents and young adults. Recently, an international phase 2 trial in pediatric patients using dose-adjusted etoposide, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide with vincristine and prednisone plus rituximab (DA-EPOCH-R) failed to reproduce excellent survival reported in some adult studies. The optimal therapy regimen needs to be determined in this disease. French prospective LMB2001 trial included all patients < 18 years with mature B-cell lymphoma treated in French centers. For patients with PMLBL, treatment included 4 to 8 courses of Lymphomes Malins B (LMB)-based chemotherapy without radiotherapy. From 2008, rituximab was added before each chemotherapy course. From 09/2001 to 03/2012, 42 patients with PMLBL were registered. The median age was 15 years (range 8-18). 21 patients were treated by chemotherapy plus rituximab. The median follow-up was 7.1 years (Interquartile range, 5.8-11.1). Five-year event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 88.1% (95%Confidence Interval (CI), 75.0%-94.8%) and 95.2% (95%CI, 84.0%-98.7%) for the whole population. The 5-year EFS was 81.0% (95%CI, 60.0%-92.3%) and 95.2% (95%CI, 77.3%-99.2%) (HR=0.24 (95%CI 0.03-2.2)) and 5-year OS was 90.5% (95%CI, 71.1%-97.3%) and 100% for patients treated without and with rituximab, respectively. Only 1/21 patients treated with rituximab and LMB-based chemotherapy had local early treatment failure but achieved prolonged complete remission with second-line chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Intensive LMB-based chemotherapy with rituximab achieved excellent survival in children/adolescents with PMLBL. Further international prospective studies are required to confirm these results in this population.