Ibrutinib Plus Rituximab and Mini-Chop in Very Elderly Patients with Newly Diagnosed DLBCL: A Phase II ALLG Study.

The multicenter, prospective phase II Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (ALLG) NHL29 trial (ACTRN12615000551594) was conducted to assess the addition of ibrutinib to R-mini-CHOP (IRiC) in patients aged ≥75 years with newly diagnosed Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Treatment consisted of six 21-day cycles of ibrutinib-R-mini-CHOP followed by two 21-day cycles of rituximab-ibrutinib. Co-primary endpoints were deliverability and 2-year overall survival (OS). All six cycles of R-mini-CHOP were completed in 63/79 patients (80%) with the median Average Relative Total Dose and Average Relative Dose Intensity for the entire regimen both 97% (IQR 82, 100; 88, 100). With a median follow-up of 35.5 months, the 2-year OS was 68% (95% CI, 55.6 - 77.4) with a 2-year PFS of 60.0% (95% CI, 47.7- 70.3). Median OS and PFS were 72 months (95% CI, 35 - not reached) and 40 months (95% CI, 20.4 – not reached) respectively. The overall response rate (ORR) was 76% (61/79 patients), with a complete response (CR) rate of 71% (56/79 patients). Deaths occurred in 34/79 patients (43%), including 17 from progressive disease and 5 treatment related. 67% patients experienced at least one serious adverse event. Most common adverse events were infections and diarrhea (majority grade 1-2). In both health-related quality of life measures, there was an improvement in functional and symptom scales, median health state classification score and median visual analogue scale in responders over time. In conclusion, this study showed that the addition of ibrutinib to R-mini-CHOP was both deliverable and efficacious in elderly DLBCL patients.