mantle cell lymphoma | Mantle cell lymphoma: immunotherapy after chemotherapy prolongs patient survival

Mantle cell lymphoma: immunotherapy after chemotherapy prolongs patient survival


The addition of immunotherapy by rituximab after chemotherapy in patients with mantle cell lymphoma has made it possible to prolong their survival, according to a study conducted by the French and Belgian centres of the Lymphoma study Association (LYSA) and published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) *.

In this study of 299 patients with mantle cell lymphoma and under 66 years of age at the time of diagnosis, half of the patients treated with chemotherapy and then autologous stem cell transplant Hematopoietic, had received immunotherapy in the form of an injection of rituximab (a monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody) every two months for three years in Day hospital.

Four years after the end of chemotherapy, 89% of patients in this group were still alive, compared with 80% in the observation group that did not have immunotherapy.

We show with this study that immunotherapy therapy can delay the occurrence of relapse and prolong the survival of patients. It is a step further in the process of combating this cancer which unfortunately still has a high risk of relapse, says the principal investigator of the study, Prof. Steven le Gouill, hematologist at the CHU of Nantes and member of the LYSA, a grouping Co-operator comprising 500 researchers from 120 centres in Europe.

A new therapeutic strategy
"It is clear that the use of rituximab in maintenance after chemotherapy in this type of lymphoma will become a new standard of treatment so it is very likely to move towards a change in the treatment strategy for these patients. Especially since we have been able to reduce the chemotherapy protocol, which has been alleviated, due to the follow-up by a maintenance treatment, stresses Prof. Gouill.

Lymphomas are blood cancers developing in the lymphatic tissue. This is the 6th most common type of cancer in France every year.

Mantle cell lymphoma is a rare form of lymphoma (6% of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas). It develops from B lymphocytes in an area of the lymph nodes, called the mantle area, where the cancer cells are located, hence its name.

It is almost incurable with a median of survival, all patients of all ages, 40 months.