The aim of the present study waw to assess efficacy and safety of radio-immunotherapy with Zevalin (RIT-Z) in heavily pre-treated, rituximab-refractory patients.
Patients and methods: We studied 12 patients with indolent lymphoma and 7 with aggressive lymphoma. The median number of prior rituximab-containing treatments was 2; overall, 3 therapies had been previously given. Ten patients received RIT-Z as salvage therapy, 9 at high risk of relapse received RIT-Z as consolidation. Staging and follow-up were obtained by positron-emission tomography. Outcomes assessed were failure-free survival (FFS) and time to next treatment (TTNT).
Results: Overall FFS and TTNT were 5 and 11 months, respectively; median follow-up 13 months. Major findings were i) no long-term remissions observed in 7 patients who had not responded to their most recent therapy and ii) lack of association between any pre-therapy variables analysed and outcomes. Different subgroups showed no difference in terms of toxicity.
Conclusion: We encourage the use of RIT-Z as a consolidation for pre-treated patients with both indolent and aggressive lymphoma.