A trial looking at ofatumumab for diffuse large B cell lymphoma that has come back after treatment

Cancer type:

Blood cancers

High grade lymphoma

Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 2

This trial looked ofatumumab for diffuse large B cell lymphoma that had come back or continued to grow after treatment.

It recruited people who either could not have a stem cell transplant using their own blood cells (autologous transplant Open a glossary item ), or had already had a stem cell transplant.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a type of high grade non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Doctors often treat DLBCL with a combination of chemotherapy Open a glossary item and a drug called rituximab. This treatment is called R-CHOP. This is a successful treatment for many people. But if the lymphoma comes back and you can’t have a stem cell transplant, or you have already had one, your lymphoma can be more difficult to treat.

Ofatumumab (Arzerra) is a type of biological therapy called a monoclonal antibody. These can seek out cancer cells by looking for particular proteins which are found on the surface of particular cancer cells.

The aims of the trial were to find out

How well ofatumumab works for patients whose DLBCL has come back after treament
More about the side effects

Summary of results

The research team found that ofatumumab was useful for treating diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that had come back or stopped responding to treatment.

This trial recruited 81 people with DLBCL. Of these

56 weren’t able to have a stem cell transplant using their own cells (an autologous transplant )
25 had already had a stem cell transplant but their lymphoma had come back

Everyone taking part had ofatumumab through a drip into a vein once a week for 8 weeks.

The trial team analysed the results in 2011. They had the results for 36 people who weren’t able to have a stem cell transplant using their own cells. They found that the lymphoma had

Got a bit better in 7 people
Stayed the same in 11 people
Got worse in 18 people

They had the results for 21 people who had already had a stem cell transplant but their lymphoma had come back. They found that the lymphoma had

Disappeared completely in 2 people
Stayed the same in 3 people
Got worse in 16 people

The most common side effects were diarrhoea, tiredness (fatigue), fluid retention, stomach pain and constipation a drop in white blood cells causing an increased risk of infection.

The researchers concluded that ofatumumab was a safe and useful treatment for DLBCL that had come back or stopped responding to treatment.

As ofatumumab helped some people in this trial when it was used on its own, the researchers suggested that future trials could look at giving it at the same time as chemotherapy for this type of lymphoma.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.