To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: ASH: Bexxar (Tositumomab and Iodine [131-I-Tositumomab) Plus CHOP Improves Best Result in Newly Diagnosed Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma</b><br> URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/20FE26.htm<br> Doctor's Guide<br> December 12, 2001<p><br>] By Peggy Peck ORLANDO, FL -- December 12, 2001 -- Addition of the monoclonal antibody Bexxar (tositumomab and iodine 131-I-tositumomab) appears to improve treatment responses in patients with newly diagnosed follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with standard chemotherapy. Results from a phase II trial also showed that addition of Bexxar did not significantly increase treatment toxicity. Dr. Oliver W. Press of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, Washington, presented the results yesterday (Dec. 11) at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, in Orlando, Florida. The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), which conducted the study, recruited 102 patients with newly diagnosed follicular lymphomas (grade 1, 2, or 3); 92 patients were eligible for standard CHOP therapy. Patients were treated with six cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m², doxorubicin 50 mg/m², vincristine 1.4 mg/m², and prednisone 100 mg/day for five days) followed by radioimmunotherapy. Four weeks after completion of the last cycle of CHOP, patients underwent dosimetry with 450 mg of unlabeled tositumomab and 35 mg of trace-labeled I-131-tositumomab. Based on the rate of clearance of the dosimetric infusion as assessed by gamma counting, subjects were treated with Bexxar labeled 48-115 mCi of 131-I (median 84 mCi), which was estimated to deliver 75 cGy to the whole body. This therapeutic dose was administered one to two weeks after the trace-labeled dose. The researchers have analysed 71 patients for response to the combination treatment; 51 of these patients achieved an objective remission, including 37 (52 percent) confirmed or unconfirmed complete responses and 20 (28 percent) partial responses, for an overall response rate of 80 percent. One patient progressed on therapy and two patients had stable disease. There were insufficient data available on 11 patients, Dr. Press said. In 17 patients, the addition of radioimmunotherapy to CHOP "converted partial responses to complete responses or unconfirmed to confirmed responses," he said. The investigators are still awaiting results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, he added. Based on these results, the researchers have initiated a three-armed, prospective, randomised study (SWOG 0016) to compare CHOP in combination with Bexxar to CHOP alone and to CHOP plus rituximab, Dr. Press said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.