ga101-minichop regimen for the treatment of elderly unfit patients with diffuse large b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma

Conditions: CD20 Positive Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma; Elderly Unfit Patients

Summary: ga101-minichop regimen for the treatment of elderly unfit patients with diffuse large b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma.

considering that the treatment of elderly unfit patients with dlbcl cannot be based on a full course of r-chop (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone), and that using a less intense r-minichop (an attenuated version of the standard r-chop: rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) combination an acceptable cure rate can be achieved this study is designed to try to improve the cure rate in unfit patients with dlbcl (diffuse large b cell lymphoma) by adopting the r-minichop scheme substituting rituximab with the more active ga101 monoclonal antibody. the study hypothesis is that a higher activity of the treatment can be achieved without modifying the cytotoxic part of the treatment but using a more active immunotherapy. differently from the previous experience with r-minichop eligible patient are not only identified using anagraphic criteria but adopting cga (comprehensive geriatric assessment) as part of initial assessment and considering as eligible unfit patients.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: 1. histologically proven cd20 positive diffuse large b-cell lymphoma and follicular grade iii b lymphoma, according to who (world health organization) classification (local pathologist) 2. age ≥ 65 years 3. no previous treatment 4. cga assessment (comprehensive geriatric assessment) performed before starting treatment 5. unfit patients defined as follows: age \> 80 years with fit profile, i.e. adl (activity of daily living) =6 residual functions iadl (instrumental activity of daily living) =8 residual functions cirs (cumulative illness rating scale): no comorbidity of grade 3-4 and \ 5 residual functions iadl (instrumental activity of daily living) \> 6 residual functions cirs (cumulative illness rating scale): no comorbidity of grade 3-4 and 5-8 co-morbidities of grade 2 6. ann arbor stage i with bulky, ii-iv 7. at least one bi-dimensionally measurable lesion defined as \> 1.5 cm in its largest dimension on ct scan 8. ecog (eastern cooperative oncology group) performance status of 0, 1, or 2 9. adequate hematologic function (unless caused by bone marrow infiltrate), defined as follows: hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dl absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 x 109/l platelet count ≥ 100 x 109/l 10. lvef (left ventricular ejection fraction) \>50% 11. ability and willingness to comply with the study protocol procedure 12. life expectancy \> 6 months 13. accessibility of patient for treatment and follow up 14. written informed consent exclusion criteria: 1. history of severe allergic or anaphylactic reactions to humanized or murine monoclonal antibodies or known sensitivity or allergy to murine products 2. contraindication to any of the individual components of chop (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone), including prior receipt of anthracyclines 3. history of other malignancies within 5 years prior to study entry except for adequately treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix or basal or squamous cell skin cancer 4. stage i without bulky 5. patients with transformed lymphoma 6. prior therapy for dlbcl (diffuse large b cell lymphoma), with the exception of nodal biopsy or local irradiation 7. previous exposure to cytotoxic agents 8. suspect or clinical evidence of cns (central nervous system) involvement by lymphoma 9. hbsag (hepatitis b surface antigen), hcv (hepatitis c virus) or hiv (human immunodeficiency virus) positivity; isolated hbcab (hepatitis b surface antibody) positivity is accepted only with concomitant treatment with lamivudine 10. ast /alt (aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase)\> twice upper the normal range; bilirubin \> twice upper the normal range; serum creatinine \> 2.5 mg /dl (unless these abnormalities were related to the lymphoma) 11. evidence of any severe active acute or chronic infection 12. concurrent co-morbid medical condition which might exclude administration of full dose chemotherapy