A trial looking at chemotherapy and rituximab for people with newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma who cannot have CHOP chemotherapy (R-GCVP)

This trial looked at chemotherapy and rituximab for people who had just been diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma and who couldn’t have CHOP chemotherapy. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a type of high grade non Hodgkin lymphoma. Doctors often treat DLBCL with CHOP chemotherapy and a monoclonal antibody called rituximab. This combination of drugs is called R-CHOP.

One of the drugs included in the CHOP regime can cause damage to the heart. If people already have heart problems or they are very unfit, they can’t have this type of treatment.

Researchers were looking at a different combination of drugs, which might cause less damage to the heart. It included a chemotherapy drug called gemcitabine. In earlier trials, gemcitabine helped people with lymphoma who had already had other treatment. This trial was for people who had just been diagnosed with DLBCL and hadn’t had any treatment yet.

The aims of the trial were to

• Find out if this combination of chemotherapy drugs and rituximab helped people with DLBCL who couldn’t have CHOP chemotherapy

• Learn more about the side effects