Evolution of R-CHOP therapy for older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the fifth most common malignancy in adults in the USA. This disorder is especially relevant in the elderly patient population, as the median age of patients with this disorder is 65 years. Almost half of these disorders in older patients are of a diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) subtype. The therapy of DLBCL has undergone a renaissance in the past decade, with the addition of rituximab to standard regimens, such as cyclophosphamide-doxorubicin-vincristine-prednisone (CHOP). Over this time, there have been several large Phase III treatment trials in which the CHOP and rituximab-CHOP (R-CHOP) regimens have been prospectively compared, including three trials confined to the elderly patient population. In these trials, it has been demonstrated repeatedly that the addition of rituximab results in an improved outcome, with higher response rates and prolongation in parameters including progression-free, event-free, disease-free and overall survival. In addition, this regimen has been well tolerated, even in older patients. Based upon these data, the R-CHOP regimen has now been established as the standard for initial therapy of DLBCL in older patients with DLBCL. However, issues still remain with regard to the ideal schedule of R-CHOP administration, specifically the optimal number of cycles of therapy (six vs eight), as well as cycle length (14 vs 21 days).