SAN DIEGO – A newly approved treatment regimen provides a survival benefit over standard therapy for patients with CD30-positive peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs), according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
In the ECHELON-2 trial, patients who received brentuximab vedotin (BV) plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (CHP) had superior progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), compared with patients who received standard treatment with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP).
These results supported the recent U.S. approval of BV in combination with CHP for adults with previously untreated, systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma or other CD30-expressing PTCLs.
“ECHELON-2 is the first prospective trial in peripheral T-cell lymphoma to show an overall survival benefit over CHOP,” said Steven M. Horwitz, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with locations in New York and New Jersey.
Dr. Horwitz presented data from this trial at the ASH meeting. Results were simultaneously published in the Lancet (2018 Dec 3. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736[18]32984-2).
ECHELON-2 (NCT01777152) enrolled 452 patients with previously untreated, CD30-positive PTCL. Subtypes included ALK-positive or ALK-negative systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, PTCL not otherwise specified, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma, and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.
Patients were randomized to receive BV-CHP plus placebo (n = 226) or CHOP plus placebo (n = 226) every 3 weeks for six to eight cycles.
At baseline, the median age was 58 in the BV-CHP arm and the CHOP arm. The majority of patients were male – 59% in the BV-CHP arm and 67% in the CHOP arm – and most patients had stage III/IV disease, 81% and 80%, respectively.
In all, 89% of patients in the BV-CHP arm and 81% in the CHOP arm completed six or more cycles of their assigned treatment.
The overall response rate was 83% in the BV-CHP arm and 72% in the CHOP arm (P = .0032). The complete response rates were 68% and 56%, respectively (P = .0066).
At a median follow-up of 36.2 months, the median PFS was 48.2 months in the BV-CHP arm and 20.8 months in the CHOP arm. The rate of death or progression was 42% in the BV-CHP arm and 55% in the CHOP arm (hazard ratio = 0.71, P = .011).
At a median follow-up of 42.1 months, the median OS was not reached in either treatment arm. The rate of death was 23% in the BV-CHP arm and 32% in the CHOP arm (HR = 0.66, P = .0244).
Dr. Horwitz noted that this study was not powered to determine differences in PFS or OS by PTCL subtypes.
BV-CHP had a safety profile comparable with that of CHOP, Dr. Horwitz said.
The rate of adverse events (AEs) was 99% in the BV-CHP arm and 98% in the CHOP arm. Grade 3 or higher AEs occurred in 66% and 65% of patients, respectively. Serious AEs occurred in 39% and 38%, respectively.
Three percent of patients in the BV-CHP arm and 4% of those in the CHOP arm had fatal AEs.
The study was funded by Seattle Genetics, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Horwitz reported relationships with Seattle Genetics, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and other companies.
SOURCE: Horwitz S et al. ASH 2018, Abstract 997.