Table 1.
Studies evaluating the role of antibody based maintenance therapy post autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation in diffuse large B cell lymphoma
| Ref. | Study design | Maintenance schedule | n | % CS at HCT | PFS/EFS (%) | OS (%) | Comments |
| Lim et al[21] | Retrospective | Rituximab 375 mg/m2 (q 3 mo for a total of 8 doses) | 15 | 100 | - | 80 | Relapse free survival 100% (5.5 yr) |
| (5.5 yr) | |||||||
| Zhang et al[22] | Single arm prospective | Rituximab 375 mg/m2 (q 3 mo for 2 yr) | 12 | 100 | 83 | 100 | Prolonged hypogammaglobinemia in 2 patients |
| (3 yr) | (3 yr) | ||||||
| Tsirigotis et al[23] | Retrospective | Rituximab 375 mg/m2 (80% q wk and 20% q mo) | 19 | 79 | NR | NR | Compared to controls, maintenance improves PFS and OS |
| Haioun et al[24] | Randomized prospective | Rituximab 375 mg/m2 (weekly for 4 doses) | 269 | 84.5 | 80 (R) vs 71 (O) | - | Patients underwent autoHCT upfront in first remission |
| R = 139, O = 130 | (4 yr) | ||||||
| Gisselbrecht et al[25] | Randomized prospective | Rituximab 375 mg/m2 (q 8 wk for 1 yr) | 242 | 100 | 52 (R) vs 56 (O) | 61 (R) vs 65 (O) | 4 yr EFS was 52% for Rituximab arm while 53% for observation arm |
| R = 122, | (4 yr) | (4 yr) | |||||
| O = 120 | |||||||
| Armand et al[26] | Prospective phase II | Pidilizumab 1.5 mg/kg (q 42 d for 3 cycles) | 66 | 91 | 72 | 85 | ORR was 51% (CR of 34%) in pts with measurable disease after autoHCT |
| (16 mo) | (16 mo) |
CS: Chemo-sensitive; PFS: Progression free survival; OS: Overall survival; NR: Not reached; R: Rituximab arm; O: Observation arm; EFS: Event free survival; ORR: Overall response rate; CR: Complete remission; HCT: Hematopoietic cell transplantation.