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Rituximab maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation prolongs response duration in non-naive rituximab follicular lymphoma patients: a single institution experience

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Abstract

We retrospectively evaluated the role of rituximab (R) in maintenance treatment after autologous stem cell transplantation performed in patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma. We compared the outcome of 67 follicular lymphoma (FL) patients according to the use of rituximab maintenance (RM) or not. All patients received rituximab plus chemotherapy before autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT). Patients received median of two lines of prior therapy. The RM schedule was one injection of rituximab every 3 months for 2 years. Median follow-up is 4.6 years. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) after ASCT was 86 % with RM vs. 46 % without (p = 0.0045). Median is not reached in the RM arm vs. 31 months in non-RM arm. The 3-year OS was 96 % with RM vs. 78 % without (p = 0.059). The present monocentric study shows that 2 years of RM after ASCT significantly increases response duration for non-naive rituximab relapsed FL patients compared with observation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the nurses of the Hematology Department of the Nantes Medical University (France), the patients, and their families. Data was collected from our database (Lhenabase).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, University Hospital of Nantes, Nantes, France

    J. Bourcier, T. Gastinne, B. Mahé, N. Blin, V. Dubruille, C. Touzeau, M. Voldoire, T. Guillaume, P. Peterlin, P. Gallas, A. Garnier, P. Chevallier, P. Moreau & S. Le Gouill

  2. Department of Epidemiology, University Hospital of Nantes, Nantes, France

    C. Leux

  3. Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Nantes, Nantes, France

    A. Moreau & C. Bossard

  4. Department of Hematology, CHD de la Roche-Sur-Yon, La Roche-sur-Yon, France

    H. Maisonneuve

  5. Department of Hematology, CH de Lorient, Lorient, France

    P. Moreau

  6. Centre Catherine de Sienne, Rezé, France

    N. Juge-Morineau

  7. Department of Hematology, CH de Vannes, Vannes, France

    H. Jardel

  8. INSERM, UMR892, Equipe 10, Nantes, France

    S. Le Gouill

  9. INSERM, CIC 004, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France

    S. Le Gouill

Authors
  1. J. Bourcier
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  2. T. Gastinne
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  3. C. Leux
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  4. A. Moreau
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  5. C. Bossard
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  6. B. Mahé
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  7. N. Blin
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  8. V. Dubruille
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  9. C. Touzeau
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  10. M. Voldoire
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  11. T. Guillaume
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  12. P. Peterlin
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  13. P. Gallas
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  14. A. Garnier
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  15. H. Maisonneuve
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  16. P. Moreau
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  17. N. Juge-Morineau
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  18. H. Jardel
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  19. P. Chevallier
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  20. P. Moreau
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  21. S. Le Gouill
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Le Gouill.

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Conflict of interest

SLG is a Roche advisory board member. The present study was not sponsored.

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Bourcier, J., Gastinne, T., Leux, C. et al. Rituximab maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation prolongs response duration in non-naive rituximab follicular lymphoma patients: a single institution experience. Ann Hematol 95, 1287–1293 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-016-2705-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-016-2705-z

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