Patients with advanced follicular lymphoma (FL) who received initial treatment had better overall survival (OS) compared to those managed using watch and wait, according to a study presented at the virtual 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.
This study, presented by Ning Dong, MD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, used the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to examine outcomes of patients on watch and wait versus initial therapy for advanced FL and compared the outcomes by FL pathological grades.
A total of 14,417 patients diagnosed with FL between 2011 and 2016 were included in the study. Of whom, 10,755 (74.6%) received initial therapy and 3662 (25.4%) were managed using watch and wait.
Preliminary analyses showed similar management and OS between patients with grade 1 and grade 2 FL, thus they were combined to compare patients grade 1-2 FL (n = 13,050) to grade 3 FL (n = 4286).
Overall, patients with grade 1-2 FL were more likely to be managed using watch and wait than those with grade 3 FL (29.8% vs 12.5%, respectively; P <.01).
Patients with grade 1-2 FL experienced similar OS when managed using watch and wait versus initial therapy (5-year OS: 76.3% vs 76.2%, respectively; P = .32). Patients with grade 3 FL had worse OS when managed by watch and wait compared to initial therapy (5-year OS: 65.3% vs 73.5%; P <.001).
“Our study confirms the findings of lack of OS benefits in patients with advanced stage, grade 1-2 FL when treated with [watch and wait] versus [initial therapy]. In contrast, patients with advanced stage, grade 3 FL had worse OS with [wait and wait] approach,” Dr Dong concluded.—Janelle Bradley
Dong N, Saeed H, Isenalumhe L, et al. Initial Treatment Vs Watch and Wait in Advanced-Stage Follicular Lymphoma in the Rituximab Era – an Analysis of the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Presented at: the virtual 62nd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition; December 5-8, 2020. Abstract 2941.
