Guo, Pingshan

Abstract Introduction: Diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common of the non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). Patients with DLBCL who are not cured by treatment with R-CHOP chemotherapy or high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue have a poor prognosis. These patients reflect a clear unmet need in the treatment of DLBCL. A previous sub-analysis of a phase II trial (NHL-002) of lenalidomide in patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL, demonstrated a 19% overall response rate (ORR) with a 7-month median duration of response (DR). A confirmatory international phase II trial (NHL-003) of single-agent lenalidomide was initiated for patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL that had received at least one prior treatment and had measurable disease. Herein, we report the data from the DLBCL patients enrolled in this trial. Methods: Patients received 25 mg oral lenalidomide once daily on days 1–21 of every 28-day cycle and continued therapy until disease progression or toxicity. The 1999 IWLRC methodology was used to assess response and progression. Results: This report focuses on the 73 DLBCL patients that were enrolled and evaluable for response assessment. The median age was 67 (21–87) years and 49 (67%) patients were male. Median time from diagnosis to lenalidomide treatment was 2 (0–18.6) years, and patients had received a median of 3 (1–6) prior treatment regimens. The ORR to lenalidomide was 29% (21/73), with 4% complete response (3/73) and 25% partial response (18/73). Eleven patients (15%) had stable disease. The most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (32%), thrombocytopenia (15%), asthenia (8%) and anemia (7%). Conclusion: These results of this international study confirm that lenalidomide is active in heavily pre-treated patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL with manageable side effects.

Abstract Introduction: Mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive B-cell lymphoma that if not cured with aggressive chemoimmunotherapy and stem cell transplant is usually fatal. The intravenous proteasome inhibitor bortezomib produces an overall response rate (ORR) of 33% in patients with relapsed MCL (J Clin Oncol2006;24(30):4867–74). Unfortunately, most patients eventually relapse and new agents are needed for this disease. Two recently conducted phase II trials (NHL-002 and NHL-003) tested single-agent lenalidomide for patients with relapsed MCL. Fifty-four patients with MCL were enrolled into the two studies; 26% (14/54) had received prior bortezomib and they are the subject of this report. Methods: Patients with relapsed or refractory MCL and measurable disease 2 cm after at least one prior treatment regimen including prior bortezomib were eligible. Patients received 25 mg of lenalidomide orally once daily on days 1–21 of every 28-day cycle. Therapy was continued as tolerated or until disease progression. The 1999 IWLRC methodology was used to assess response and progression. Results: The 14 patients in this study were heavily pretreated with a median of 4 (2–6) prior treatments (including bortezomib) and 50% were bortezomib-refractory. Median age was 66 (45–84) years and 6 (43%) patients were female. Median time from diagnosis to lenalidomide treatment was 3.3 (0.7–7.6) years. The ORR with lenalidomide was 57% (8/14), including 21% (3/14) complete response (CR)/unconfirmed CR and 36% (5/14) partial responses. One (7%) patient had stable disease. The most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (50%), thrombocytopenia (43%), anemia (21%), fatigue (21%), and leukopenia (21%). Neutropenic fever occurred in 7% of patients. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that lenalidomide oral monotherapy is very effective with manageable side effects in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL who had received prior treatment with bortezomib.

Abstract Introduction: Mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that typically responds to initial chemo-immunotherapy, but with a relatively short duration of response (DR) and progression-free survival (PFS) when treated with conventional chemotherapy agents. Although the overall survival (OS) of MCL has improved, most patients are not cured and new agents are needed. A sub-analysis of a recent phase II trial (NHL-002) investigating the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL, demonstrated a promising overall response rate (ORR) of 53% with a median DR of 11.9 months. A confirmatory international phase II trial (NHL-003) of single-agent lenalidomide was initiated for patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL that had received at least one prior treatment and had measurable disease. In this report, we analyze the current results from the MCL patients enrolled in this trial. Methods: Patients with relapsed or refractory MCL and measurable disease ≥2 cm after at least 1 prior treatment regimen were eligible. Patients received 25 mg of lenalidomide orally once daily on days 1–21 of every 28-day cycle. Patients continued therapy until disease progression or toxicity. The 1999 IWLRC methodology was used to assess response and progression. Results: This report focuses on the 39 MCL patients that were enrolled and evaluable for response assessment. Median age was 66 (33–82) years and 29 (74%) patients were male. Median time from diagnosis to lenalidomide treatment was 3.4 (0.4–9) years. Patients had received a median of 3 (1–8) prior treatments, and 23% (9/39) of patients had received prior bortezomib treatment. The ORR with lenalidomide was 41% (16/39), including 13% (5/39) complete response (CR)/unconfirmed CR, and 28% (11/39) partial responses. Ten (26%) patients had stable disease. The most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (51%) and thrombocytopenia (25%), anemia (13%), fatigue (10%) and febrile neutropenia (10%). Conclusion: These results confirm that lenalidomide oral monotherapy is effective in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory MCL, with manageable side effects.

Abstract Abstract 1676 Poster Board I-702 Introduction Aggressive NHL (a-NHL) comprises a heterogeneous group of B-cell malignancies, each characterized by a unique histology and molecular markers. The most common types are diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), transformed lymphoma (TL), follicular grade III (FL-III), and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Although initial therapy can be effective, up to 40% of patients with DLBCL either fail to respond or relapse after initial therapy (Habermann TM et al JCO 2006), and relapses are likely among patients with MCL. For such patients survival outcomes are particularly poor with few effective treatment options available. Lenalidomide (Revlimid®), an immunomodulatory agent with anti-proliferative as well as apoptotic activity was tested in a pilot study and demonstrated a 35% overall response rate (ORR) with a median duration of response (DR) of 10.4 months (Wiernik et al 2008 EHA. Abst: 764). Based on these encouraging data, we performed a large, international, confirmatory phase 2 study to assess the safety and efficacy of single-agent lenalidomide in patients with relapsed of refractory DLBCL or MCL (CC-5013-NHL-003). Methods Patients were required to have relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell NHL after ≥1 prior therapies and have at least one measurable lesion '2 cm. Patients received oral lenalidomide 25 mg once daily on days 1–21 of a 28-day cycle, and continued therapy until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results 217 patients were enrolled and received lenalidomide with 108 (50%) DLBCL, 57 (26%) MCL, 19 (9%) FL-III, and 33 (15%) TL (Table 1). The median age was 66 yrs (range, 21–87), 97 patients (45%) had intermediate (3) or high (4–5) IPI scores, and the median time from diagnosis was 2.7 yrs (range, 0.04–20.6). Patients had received a median of 3 prior therapies (range, 1–13), and rituximab was included as a part of the prior therapy in 94% (205/217) of patients. The ORR for all 217 patients was 35% (77/217), with 13% (29/217) complete response (CR)/unconfirmed CR (CRu), 22% (48/217) partial response (PR), and 21% (46/217) with stable disease (SD). Responses were observed in all histological types (Table 1). Patients with a prior stem cell transplantation had a 37% ORR (27/73). The ORR was 28% (27/95) in those patients who were refractory to their last therapy, and 33% (38/116) in patients who were rituximab refractory (defined as <6 months response or no response). Median progression-free survival (PFS) for all patients was 3.5 months (95% CI, 2.5, 4.4) and the median DR for the 77 responders was 11.6 months (95% CI, 6.2, not reached [NR]). The primary side effect of lenalidomide was reversible myelosuppression. Grades 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred in 41%, thrombocytopenia in 19%, anemia in 9%, and leucopenia in 7% of patients. Adverse events caused dose reductions or interruptions in 44% (96/217) of patients and led to treatment discontinuation in 22% (48/217). Conclusion This international study supports earlier pilot-study results showing that lenalidomide has promising anti-tumor activity in aggressive B-cell NHL, with a predictable and treatable toxicity profile. These data warrant further evaluation of lenalidomide in combination with other regimens in the treatment of each histological subtype, and further exploration of lenalidomide in the maintenance setting. Disclosures Witzig: Celgene: Research Funding. Off Label Use: Lenalidomide in relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL. Vose:Celgene: Research Funding. Zinzani:Celgene: Research Funding. Guo:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Pietronigro:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Ervin-Haynes:Celgene: Employment. Czuczman:Celgene: Research Funding.