Dataset Information

Maintenance therapy for untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Several clinical trials have been conducted to evaluate the role of maintenance therapy in untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients with complete response or partial response following standard immunochemotherapy; however, the effect of maintenance therapy remains uncertain, and a suitable maintenance strategy has not been determined because of the lack of direct/indirect comparisons.

Methods

We performed a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) to analyze and compare the effectiveness of different maintenance regimens in newly diagnosed DLBCL patients. We searched the PubMed Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for relevant papers from inception to 18 March 2021. Our study was prospectively registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42020168864). Data on overall survival (OS) were extracted and the treatments were ranked using the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curve.

Results

Eight trials and seven treatments involving 3525 patients were analyzed. OS analysis indicated that none of the drugs showed any benefit compared with non-maintenance therapy. Maintenance therapy with lenalidomide (SUCRA 69.3%) was ranked first in terms of OS.

Conclusion

Based on the OS results observed in this NMA, we do not recommend maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed DLBLC after first-line therapy.

SUBMITTER: Yuan T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8165531 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:PurposeThe addition of rituximab to standard chemotherapy has significantly improved survival in patients with lymphoma. Recently, maintenance therapy with rituximab has been shown to prevent relapse and provide survival benefits for patients with follicular or mantle cell lymphoma. However, the effects of rituximab in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remain unclear. Two new studies involving rituximab in the treatment of DLBCL were performed this past year. We performed a meta analysis to evaluate the effects of rituximab maintenance treatment of patients with DLBCL.MethodsSeveral databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) databases were reviewed for relevant randomized controlled trials published prior to May, 2016. Two reviewers assessed the quality of the included studies and extracted data independently. The hazard ratios (HRs) for time-to-event data and relative risks (RRs) for the other data were pooled and estimated.ResultsTotally 5 studies including 1740 patients were eligible for the meta-analysis. Compared to the observation group, patients who received rituximab maintenance therapy had significantly improved event-free survival (EFS) (HR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65-0.98) and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.54-0.94). However, there was no statistically significant difference in overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.27-1.29). A subgroup analysis suggested that male patients may benefit from rituximab maintenance therapy with a better EFS (HR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.34-0.82-), while this advantage was not observed in female patients (HR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.64-1.52).ConclusionsRituximab maintenance may provide survival benefits beyond that afforded by first- and second-line chemotherapy alone, especially in male patients. However, maintenance rituximab treatment may cause more adverse events. It is recommended that both survival benefits and adverse events should be taken into consideration when making treatment decisions.