Tafasitamab Plus Lenalidomide Therapy Demonstrates Prolonged, Durable Responses for Patients With R/R DLBCL

Final 5-Year Results from the Phase 2 L-MIND Trial 

The combination of tafasitamab plus lenalidomide followed by long-term tafasitamab monotherapy demonstrated durable and prolonged responses as well as a potential curative effect among patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to final 5-year results from the phase 2 L-MIND study.

Nagesh Kalakonda, MD, Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom provides insights into the study results. 

Transcript:

Hello everyone. I'm Nagesh Kalakonda. I'm a professor of experimental hematology at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. I'm also a consultant specializing in lymphomas at the Clatterbridge Cancer Center within Liverpool. This is an opportunity for me to tell you a little bit about the critical findings of a 5-year update of a phase 2 study of tafasitamab plus lenalidomide in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. 

As you probably know, the 1-year and 3-year analysis showed promising results which have been published. The 5-year update was presented at the AACR meeting in Orlando in April of this year, and I was fortunate enough to present the findings at the meeting. 

The L-MIND study was a phase 2 multicenter study looking at the safety and efficacy of tafasitamab, an FC-engineered CD19 monoclonal antibody, combined with lenalidomide to study the safety and efficacy of the combination. The results from the first year and 3-year follow up led to conditional marketing authorization EMA and an accelerated approval in the US. This presentation mainly focuses on the updated 5-year analysis and the final analysis of the study. 

The 5-year data looks very, very promising. I think the main takeaway is that there’s clearly a potential for cure, at least in some patients. And the 5-year data suggests that in patients who achieve a complete response with the treatment, the responses are very durable, and also the 5-year progression-free survival, duration of response, and median overall survival are not significantly different from the ones that were published for the 3-year analysis.

This seems to be a regime that should really be considered in the relapsed/refractory setting, where there's a real unmet need to improve outcomes. And, interestingly, I think the best results were seen when the combination was used in the second-line, although there were equally good responses in the 2 or greater line setting. 

The other important thing to point out is that there were no new safety concerns at the 5-year. It's a very safe combination to use. And the majority of the side effects were actually in the first year, when the combination of tafasitamab and lenalidomide were used. Once the patient transited to the tafasitamab monotherapy phase, there were hardly any major side effects of concern. Overall the treatment is very well-tolerated with no evidence of emerging adverse events, which may be of concern.

In summary, I think that the results look very promising. It's a combination that has genuine activity and clearly causes prolonged and durable responses in a significant number of patients, some of whom may very well be cured. Thank you very much for your attention.

Source:

Duell J, Pau Abrisqueta, Andre M, et al. Abstract CT022: Five-year efficacy and safety of tafasitamab in patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL: Final results from the phase II L-MIND study. AACR Journals. Published online April 14, 2023;83. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.am2023-ct022