A 27% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to standard of care. A result that has not been seen in the treatment of large B cell lymphoma for twenty years. Unfortunately, in fact, it is a tumor that recurs in 40% of cases or no longer responds to treatments; with a poor prognosis in these cases. But for the approximately 150,000 people worldwide who are affected by this disease every year, good news has come from the 63rd congress of the American Society of Hematology (Ash): the combination of polatuzumab vedotin (a drug-conjugated antibody specifically directed against type B cancer cells) with chemotherapy based on rituzumab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and prednisone (R-CHP) is more than the current first-line standard of care, which involves the combination of rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP). This is demonstrated by the phase III Polarix clinical trial, the results of which were presented at the congress and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of medicine.
“Large B-cell lymphoma is an aggressive disease and, despite continued research efforts, therapeutic innovations have been limited in the last 20 years,” said Hervé Tilly, professor of hematology at the University of Rouen and principal investigator of Polarix. . “The results of the Polarix study represent an important step forward that bring hope to people suffering from this disease.” The results show that the new combination is more effective than the standard of care in previously untreated patients, i.e. in first-line treatment, in avoiding disease relapse, progression and death. All with a safety profile comparable to that of the standard of care.
Large B-cell lymphoma, a new therapy on the horizon
Polatuzumab vedotin is currently indicated as a fixed-duration treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory (R / R) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are not transplant candidates and is approved in combination with bendamustine and rituximab for the treatment of DLBCL. R / R in over 60 countries around the world, including those of the EU and the United States. Roche continues to explore areas of unmet need for which polatuzumab vedotin shows the potential to offer benefits, through clinical trials that analyze and investigate polatuzumab vedotin in combination with therapeutic solutions such as bispecific antibodies CD20xCD3 mosunetuzumab and glofitamab, or in combination with rituximab, gemcitabine and oxaliplatin in the phase III POLARGO study.
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