R-CHOP treatment in advanced follicular lymphoma patients

In a recent study, it has been shown that rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) continues to be a safe and effective choice for patients with advanced follicular lymphoma (FL), even after extended follow-up. These findings emphasize the suitability of R-CHOP as a first-line treatment option for patients with advanced-stage FL. This study’s findings were published in the British journal of haematology. 
An extended analysis of R-CHOP as the first-line treatment was carried out in a randomized clinical trial. The patients underwent a six-cycle R-CHOP regimen every 2 or 3 weeks, with no rituximab maintenance. A prespecified evaluation was carried out 15 years after the conclusion of enrolment, following initial analysis results demonstrating no significant differences in outcomes at the 3-year mark. Thorough analyses were conducted on the cohort of 248 FL patients assigned to the two treatment groups.
The 15-year overall survival rate was 76.2% with a median follow-up period of 15.9 years. There were no deaths related to protocol treatment, and no fatal infections were attributed to subsequent lymphoma treatment. At 15 years, the cumulative incidence of haematological and non-haematological malignancies was 3.7% and 12.8% respectively. Histological transformation occurred after a median of 8 years.
The above results demonstrate that R-CHOP is a safe and effective treatment for patients with advanced FL over a prolonged follow-up period, thus establishing it as a feasible first-line treatment option for individuals with advanced-stage FL.