Chemo Combo Hits a Home Run Against Mantle Cell Lymphoma

According to new data presented at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, a combination of three drugs was responsible for a 100 percent response rate among patients with advanced mantle cell lymphoma.

The trio of drugs included:

• Vorinostat (Zolinza)
• Cladribine
• Rituximab

The study was a small one, with just 37 patients. However, all 37 patients qualified for at least partial response to the therapy, while a stunning 32 patients met the necessary criteria for having had a complete response. The overwhelming majority of these patients had six cycles of the chemotherapy combination.

Said Kamal Sharma, DO of the Penn State Hershey Medical Center:

This is a safe and effective combination in previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma. Myelosuppression is the primary toxicity of this regimen and is reversible. This regimen warrants further study in mantle-cell lymphoma and in other B-cell malignancies.

Mantle cell lymphoma remains a difficult subtype of lymphoma to treat, in large part because researchers and doctors are learning new things about this disease all of the time. Currently, there is no widely accepted standard of care for advanced stage mantle cell lymphoma.

Source: AACR