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A new combination of treatments shows promise for fighting mantle cell lymphoma. The results of this study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.
Every year, about 200,000 people are affected by mantle cell lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that affects B lymphocytes. To treat it, researchers may have found a new weapon: combining a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor with immunochemotherapy.
Treatment improves patient survival by 50%
Presented on June 3, 2022 at ASCO, the trial is the first internationally to show the beneficial effects of the treatment on people with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
To arrive at this result, 523 patients aged 65 and over and suffering from mantle cell lymphoma were tested. The first group received a treatment combining targeted therapy and immunochemotherapy (261 patients) while the other was treated with immunochemotherapy (262 patients).
Results ? The average progression-free survival of patients (i.e. the time between the start of treatment and the worsening of the disease) was 80.6 months with the treatment combining targeted therapy and immuno-chemotherapy, compared with 52.9 months for those who had received the immuno-chemotherapy treatment alone, an improvement of 50%.
Furthermore, the complete response rate was 65.5% in the group that received the targeted therapy versus 57.6% in the placebo group.
“Our results reveal a very clear benefit for patients and this new therapeutic option suggests a change in clinical practice at the international level. The next step is to do without chemotherapy in order to offer combinatorial approaches to targeted therapies, including ibrutinib”said Professor Steven Le Gouill, hematologist, director of the Institut Curie Hospital Complex.
A new treatment that could be a game-changer for patients.
Consult an oncologist online
Mantle cell lymphoma is a non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma. It starts at the end of a lymph node called the mantle zone and usually develops around age 60. In the case of cancer, enlargement of the lymph nodes is a frequent phenomenon.
Other symptoms may also occur:
- swelling of the face and neck, if the thoracic lymph nodes are affected;
- heaviness and swelling of the legs;
- discomfort, bloating and abdominal pain;
- fever ;
- heavy sweating (especially at night);
- sudden weight loss.
These signs vary depending on the location of the tumour. In their presence, a medical check-up is necessary.