Improved efficacy using rituximab and brief duration, high intensity chemotherapy with filgrastim support for Burkitt or aggressive lymphomas: cancer and Leukemia Group B study 10 002

To improve long-term outcomes for Burkitt leukaemia/lymphoma (BL) or aggressive lymphomas in adults, we assessed the benefit of adding rituximab and filgrastim support to a dose-dense modified chemotherapy regimen from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9251 trial. One hundred and five patients (aged 19-79 years) were enrolled; 27% were >60 years old; 47% had high or high-intermediate risk by International Prognostic Index (IPI) criteria. Common severe toxicities included stomatitis/upper gastrointestinal toxicity (69%), renal insufficiency (10%), neurological events (25%) and pulmonary events (18%). Seven died from treatment-related causes (one central nervous system bleed, four infections, two respiratory failure); five were >60 years old. Results in this adult population are encouraging as complete response (CR) was observed in 83% and 4-year event-free (EFS) and overall survivals (OS) were 74% and 78%, respectively. Results compare favourably to our prior chemotherapy alone study (CALGB 9251) but despite this, high-risk patients still had worse outcomes. In conclusion, short duration, intensive chemo-immunotherapy is feasible and should be considered in adults with BL as it results in high remission rates and durable remissions.