Purpose: The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib may enhance activity of chemoimmunotherapy in lymphoma. We evaluated dose-escalated bortezomib plus standard cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) plus rituximab (R) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).
Patients and methods: Seventy-six subjects with untreated DLBCL (n = 40) and MCL (n = 36) received standard CHOP every 21 days (CHOP-21) with R plus bortezomib at 0.7 mg/m(2) (n = 4), 1.0 mg/m(2) (n = 9), or 1.3 mg/m(2) (n = 63) on days 1 and 4 for six cycles.
Results: Median age was 63 years (range, 20 to 87), and International Prognostic Index (IPI) scores were generally unfavorable (39% with IPI of 2, and 49% with IPI of 3 to 5), as were Mantle Cell Lymphoma International Prognostic Index scores in patients with MCL (28% intermediate risk and 39% high risk). Toxicity was manageable, including neuropathy in 49 subjects (8% grade 2 and 4% grade 3) and grade 3/4 anemia (13%), neutropenia (41%), and thrombocytopenia (25%). For DLBCL, the evaluable overall response rate (ORR) was 100% with 86% complete response (CR)/CR unconfirmed (CRu; n = 35). Intent-to-treat (ITT, n = 40) ORR was 88% with 75% CR/CRu, 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 64% (95% CI, 47% to 77%) and 2-year overall survival (OS) of 70% (95% CI, 53% to 82%). For MCL, the evaluable ORR was 91% with 72% CR/CRu (n = 32). The ITT (n = 36) ORR was 81% with 64% CR/CRu, 2-year PFS 44% (95% CI, 27% to 60%) and 2-year OS 86% (95% CI, 70% to 94%). IPI and MIPI correlated with survival in DLBCL and MCL, respectively. Unlike in DLBCL treated with R-CHOP alone, nongerminal center B cell (non-GCB) and GCB subtypes had similar outcomes.
Conclusion: Bortezomib with R-CHOP-21 can be safely administered and may enhance outcomes, particularly in non-GCB DLBCL, justifying randomized studies.