Experimental Hematology & Oncology (Feb 2022)

A multicenter phase II study of bendamustine, rituximab, and cytarabine (BRAC) for relapsed or refractory patients with follicular lymphoma or mantle cell lymphoma

  • Nobuhiko Nakamura,
  • Senji Kasahara,
  • Junichi Kitagawa,
  • Hiroshi Nakamura,
  • Michio Sawada,
  • Kenji Fukuno,
  • Yuhei Shibata,
  • Yuto Kaneda,
  • Takeshi Hara,
  • Nobuhiro Kanemura,
  • Hisashi Tsurumi,
  • Masahito Shimizu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40164-022-00264-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 4

Abstract

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Abstract This phase II clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination therapy of bendamustine, cytarabine, and rituximab (BRAC) in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Thirteen patients were enrolled and received a median of 4 cycles (range 2–6) of BRAC. The complete response rate was 61.5%, and the overall response rate was 84.6%; the 2-year overall survival was 76.9%, and the 2-year progression-free survival was 69.2%. Although all patients received G-CSF prophylaxis, grade 3 or higher neutropenia was observed in all cycles, and the incidence of febrile neutropenia was 20%. Grade 4 thrombocytopenia was observed in 92.5% of all cycles, and platelet transfusion was performed in 94%. Although hematological toxicity was relatively high, BRAC therapy was effective for relapsed and refractory FL or MCL. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal dose of BRAC therapy. Trial registration The UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000009797. Registered 17 January 2013, https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000011103

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