Combination Therapy Using Lenalidomide (Revlimid)- Low Dose Dexamethasone and Rituximab for Treatment of Rituximab-Resistant, Non-Aggressive B-Cell Lymphomas

Summary

Pre-clinical data and recently published clinical data suggest a synergistic effect between lenalidomide and dexamethasone. We hypothesize that a combination of lenalidomide-dexamethasone can overcome rituximab resistance. To determine the response rate to lenalidomide and dexamethasone plus rituximab therapy in subjects with recurrent small B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who have had lymphoma progression within 6 months of being treated with rituximab alone or with a rituximab-containing regimen, we propose initial treatment with both drugs for two 28-day treatment cycles (Part I). After response assessment following two cycles of lenalidomide-dexamethasone, patients will enter Part II of the study. In Part II, patients will receive lenalidomide-dexamethasone and rituximab to evaluate the potential reversal of rituximab resistance as measured by response to rituximab and progression-free survival following rituximab.

Timeline

Start

2008-07

Primary completion

2012-11-14

Completion

2020-11-23

Publications

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• Background Weng WK, Levy R. Two immunoglobulin G fragment C receptor polymorphisms independently predict response to rituximab in patients with follicular lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2003 Nov 1;21(21):3940-7. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2003.05.013. Epub 2003 Sep 15.
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• Background Bohen SP, Troyanskaya OG, Alter O, Warnke R, Botstein D, Brown PO, Levy R. Variation in gene expression patterns in follicular lymphoma and the response to rituximab. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Feb 18;100(4):1926-30. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0437875100. Epub 2003 Feb 5.
• Background Dave SS, Wright G, Tan B, Rosenwald A, Gascoyne RD, Chan WC, Fisher RI, Braziel RM, Rimsza LM, Grogan TM, Miller TP, LeBlanc M, Greiner TC, Weisenburger DD, Lynch JC, Vose J, Armitage JO, Smeland EB, Kvaloy S, Holte H, Delabie J, Connors JM, Lansdorp PM, Ouyang Q, Lister TA, Davies AJ, Norton AJ, Muller-Hermelink HK, Ott G, Campo E, Montserrat E, Wilson WH, Jaffe ES, Simon R, Yang L, Powell J, Zhao H, Goldschmidt N, Chiorazzi M, Staudt LM. Prediction of survival in follicular lymphoma based on molecular features of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. N Engl J Med. 2004 Nov 18;351(21):2159-69. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa041869.
• Background Witzig TE, Flinn IW, Gordon LI, Emmanouilides C, Czuczman MS, Saleh MN, Cripe L, Wiseman G, Olejnik T, Multani PS, White CA. Treatment with ibritumomab tiuxetan radioimmunotherapy in patients with rituximab-refractory follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2002 Aug 1;20(15):3262-9. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2002.11.017.
• Background Ansell SM, Ristow KM, Habermann TM, Wiseman GA, Witzig TE. Subsequent chemotherapy regimens are well tolerated after radioimmunotherapy with yttrium-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2002 Sep 15;20(18):3885-90. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2002.10.143.
• Background Davis TA, Maloney DG, Grillo-Lopez AJ, White CA, Williams ME, Weiner GJ, Dowden S, Levy R. Combination immunotherapy of relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with rituximab and interferon-alpha-2a. Clin Cancer Res. 2000 Jul;6(7):2644-52.
• Background Friedberg JW, Kim H, McCauley M, Hessel EM, Sims P, Fisher DC, Nadler LM, Coffman RL, Freedman AS. Combination immunotherapy with a CpG oligonucleotide (1018 ISS) and rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma: increased interferon-alpha/beta-inducible gene expression, without significant toxicity. Blood. 2005 Jan 15;105(2):489-95. doi: 10.1182/blood-2004-06-2156. Epub 2004 Sep 9.
• Background Gluck WL, Hurst D, Yuen A, Levine AM, Dayton MA, Gockerman JP, Lucas J, Denis-Mize K, Tong B, Navis D, Difrancesco A, Milan S, Wilson SE, Wolin M. Phase I studies of interleukin (IL)-2 and rituximab in B-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma: IL-2 mediated natural killer cell expansion correlations with clinical response. Clin Cancer Res. 2004 Apr 1;10(7):2253-64. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-1087-3.
• Background Hernandez-Ilizaliturri FJ, Reddy N, Holkova B, Ottman E, Czuczman MS. Immunomodulatory drug CC-5013 or CC-4047 and rituximab enhance antitumor activity in a severe combined immunodeficient mouse lymphoma model. Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Aug 15;11(16):5984-92. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-05-0577.
• Background Wu L, Adams M, Carter T, Chen R, Muller G, Stirling D, Schafer P, Bartlett JB. lenalidomide enhances natural killer cell and monocyte-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of rituximab-treated CD20+ tumor cells. Clin Cancer Res. 2008 Jul 15;14(14):4650-7. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-07-4405.
• Background Reddy N, Hernandez-Ilizaliturri FJ, Deeb G, Roth M, Vaughn M, Knight J, Wallace P, Czuczman MS. Immunomodulatory drugs stimulate natural killer-cell function, alter cytokine production by dendritic cells, and inhibit angiogenesis enhancing the anti-tumour activity of rituximab in vivo. Br J Haematol. 2008 Jan;140(1):36-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2007.06841.x. Epub 2007 Nov 9.
• Background Chanan-Khan A, Miller KC, Musial L, Lawrence D, Padmanabhan S, Takeshita K, Porter CW, Goodrich DW, Bernstein ZP, Wallace P, Spaner D, Mohr A, Byrne C, Hernandez-Ilizaliturri F, Chrystal C, Starostik P, Czuczman MS. Clinical efficacy of lenalidomide in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia: results of a phase II study. J Clin Oncol. 2006 Dec 1;24(34):5343-9. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2005.05.0401. Epub 2006 Nov 6.

Drugs

Indications