HRQoL Maintained or Improved With Treatment for Patients With R/R DLBCL

Patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (R/R DLBCL) treated with  loncastuximab tesirine had maintained or improved overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL), according to a study published in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia.

“The importance of HRQoL in oncology trials is often underappreciated,” wrote lead author Alexander Spira, MD, PhD, of Virginia Cancer Specialists, and coauthors of the study, which was funded by ADC Therapeutics SA. “Clinical studies have shown that loncastuximab tesirine has antitumor activity and a manageable toxicity profile...These findings further support the clinical use of loncastuximab tesirine for the treatment of R/R DLBCL.”

The study investigated patient-reported HRQoL, symptoms, and tolerability in 145 adults with R/R DLBCL from the single-arm, open-label phase 2 LOTIS-2 study. Participants received a 30-minute intravenous infusion of loncastuximab tesirine on day 1 of each 3-week treatment cycle.

The overall health score on the EuroQol Visual Analog Scale improved over the course in treatment, especially among responders. Researchers reported an adjusted improvement of .65 per cycle, and an adjusted mean change from baseline score of 5 at cycle 9, day 1. Meanwhile, total scores on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Treatment–Lymphoma were stable during treatment.

More patients reported improvement in pain, lumps/swelling, and losing weight compared with baseline. The only symptom more patients experienced worsening in was itching, according to the study. More than 60% of patients reported being “not at all” or “a little bit” bothered by treatment side effects.

Reports among older patients were similar to those for the overall population.

“Taken together,” researchers wrote, “our results suggest that overall health showed a trend of improvement while patients were on treatment and improved among those with a complete or partial tumor response.”

Reference:
Spira A, Zhou X, Chen L, et al. Health-related quality of life, symptoms, and tolerability of loncastuximab tesirine in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large b-cell lymphoma. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2022;22(3):158-168. doi:10.1016/j.clml.2021.09.001