First immunochemotherapy outcomes in elderly patients with CLL: A retrospective analysis

BackgroundTo date, the majority of trials on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) focused on patients considerably younger than the median age of onset for CLL. As a result, no definitive treatment exists for elderly patients, especially less medically fit patients.ObjectivesThe objectives of this study are to examine the impact of comorbidities on outcome as well as to compare three different therapeutic regimens in outcome efficacy.Materials and MethodsWe retrospectively identified 143 patients aged > 65 years, who received fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) (n = 49), fludarabine and rituximab (FR) (n = 74), or rituximab with chlorambucil (R–CLB) (n = 20) as first initial immunochemotherapy.ResultsAt current follow-up (median: 24 months), the proportion of patients with a clinical response was higher with FCR (75%) than FR (57%) and R–CLB (28%). For FCR, FR, and R–CLB patients, 2-year overall survival (OS) was 94%, 76%, and 73%, respectively, (p = 0.14), while 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 90%, 58%, and 30% (p < 0.001). In the fludarabine based regimen (FR and FCR) population, higher rituximab doses (500 mg/m2 vs. 375 mg/m2) correlated with prolonged PFS.ConclusionDespite the retrospective nature of this study, we demonstrate that elderly patients with CLL benefit from frontline immunochemotherapy, and emphasize the importance of maintaining rituximab dose intensity.