Salvage chemotherapy with rituximab DHAP for relapsed non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A phase II trial in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group

The aim of this study was to learn the toxicity and efficacy of adding 4 doses of rituximab to a standard platinum-based salvage regimen for relapsed CD20+ B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Patients were treated with rituximab 375 mg m2 days 1,8,15, 22 (cycle 1 only); cisplatin 100 mg m2 over 24 h on day 3, cytosine arabinoside 2 g m2 IV every 12 h × two doses on day 4, dexamethasone 40 mg PO IV days 3-6, and G-CSF days 5-14. The ORR was 82% (47 57) with 33% (19 57) complete remissions and 49% (28 57) partial remissions. The duration of response (DR) for the 47 responders was 10.5 months (95% CI: 5.3-16.8). The median time to progression (TTP) was 10.3 months (95% CI: 5.3-14.0), the median event-free survival (EFS) was 5.3 months (95% CI: 3.9-11.0), and the median overall survival was 30.5 months (95% CI: 17.8-60.6). We conclude that rituximab can be safely added to standard DHAP.