Patient Characteristics and Treatment Patterns in the First-Line and Second-Line Treatment of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Follicular Lymphoma in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany

Introduction: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) are hematologic malignancies with poor prognosis for patients who do not respond well to therapy. As current treatment options may be suboptimal for many patients, it is important to better understand the current treatment landscape for DLBCL and FL. Here we provide recent real-world evidence on patient characteristics and treatment patterns in relapsed/refractory (R/R) DLBCL and R/R FL across the United Kingdom (UK), France (FRA), and Germany (DE).

Methods: Hematologists and oncologists (N=140) from the UK, FRA, or DE retrospectively identified patients diagnosed with R/R DLBCL or R/R FL who received at least two lines of therapy and had radiographically or clinically measurable disease with at least one target lesion per International Working Group criteria for malignant lymphoma. Descriptive statistics examined patient characteristics and treatment patterns in first-line (1L) and second-line (2L) therapy.

Results: Mean (SD) age at initial diagnosis was 59.9 (10.9) years for the aggregate DLBCL patient sample (N=272). DLBCL patients were primarily male (69.1%), distributed across the UK (29.0%), FRA (36.8%), and DE (34.2%), and had various Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance statuses at initial diagnosis (0 ECOG 28.7%, 1 ECOG 48.9%, 2 ECOG 14.3%, ≥3 ECOG 5.9%, unknown ECOG 2.2%).

Mean (SD) age at initial diagnosis was 61.0 (10.2) years for the aggregate FL patient sample (N=282). FL patients were primarily male (53.9%), distributed across the UK (29.4%), FRA (36.9%), and DE (33.7%), and had various ECOG performance statuses at initial diagnosis (0 ECOG 30.5%, 1 ECOG 50.7%, 2 ECOG 13.5%, ≥3 ECOG 4.2%, unknown ECOG 1.1%). DLCBL and FL patient characteristics by country are presented in Table 1.

DLCBL patients in 1L and 2L received combination regimens (93.8% and 82.7%, respectively) or monotherapy regimens (6.2% and 17.3%, respectively). DLCBL patients in 1L received treatment largely consistent with current guidelines, consisting mainly of systemic therapy only (86.8%) and treatment with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin hydrochloride, vincristine, and prednisolone (R-CHOP, 68.0%). DLCBL patients in 2L completed multiple therapy cycles (median 3 cycles) and were treated with systemic therapy only (79.4%), systemic therapy and radiation (4.0%), systemic therapy and stem cell transplantation (SCT, 16.2%), or systemic therapy, radiation, and SCT (0.4%). The most common 2L DLCBL regimens were: rituximab, dexamethasone, high-dose cytosine arabinoside, and cisplatin (R-DHAP, 19.5%); bendamustine plus rituximab (12.9%); rituximab, dexamethasone, cytarabine, and oxaliplatin (R-DHAX, 12.5%).

FL patients in 1L and 2L received combination regimens (86.5% and 78.4%, respectively) or monotherapy regimens (13.5% and 21.6%, respectively). FL patients in 1L received treatment largely consistent with current guidelines, consisting mainly of systemic therapy only (90.8%) and treatment with R-CHOP (35.1%). FL patients in 2L completed multiple therapy cycles (median 4 cycles) and were treated with systemic therapy only (90.1%), systemic therapy and radiation (2.1%), systemic therapy and SCT (6.0%), or systemic therapy, radiation, and SCT (1.8%). The most common 2L FL regimens were: bendamustine plus rituximab (33.3%); R-CHOP (9.6%); R-DHAP (8.5%). DLCBL and FL 2L treatment patterns by country are presented in Table 2.

Conclusion/Summary: Given the rapid evolution of therapies used to treat FL and DLBCL, these findings fill a crucial data gap in real-world evidence on patient characteristics and treatment patterns in R/R DLCBL and R/R FL in the UK, FRA, and DE. There is an unmet need in DLBCL and FL. As novel treatments for patients with DLBCL and FL are currently in development, it is important to better understand the patients being treated for these conditions and the current treatment landscape.

View largeDownload slide

View largeDownload slide

Close modal