A trial looking at CVP with or without rituximab for advanced follicular lymphoma

The trial team found that rituximab and CVP together is a useful treatment for people with advanced follicular lymphoma.

The trial recruited 322 people

• Half had CVP alone
• Half had CVP and rituximab

The researchers analysed the early results in 2004. They looked at how well people responded to treatment about 6 weeks after it finished. They found that around 8 in 10 people (81%) who had CVP with rituximab had lymphoma that either improved or disappeared. This compared to around 6 in 10 people (57%) who had CVP alone.

About 2 ½ years after treatment finished, the researchers looked at people whose lymphoma had continued to grow. On average, CVP and rituximab controlled the lymphoma for about 2 ½ years. This compared with 1 ½ years for CVP alone.

Side effects were quite similar in both treatment groups. But more people who had CVP and rituximab had problems with a drop in white blood cells. And a few had a mild or moderate allergic reaction to rituximab.

The researchers continued to follow up the people who took part in the trial to study differences in long term survival between the 2 groups. They analysed these results in 2008. They found the number of people alive 4 years after treatment was higher in the group who had CVP and rituximab (83%) compared to those who had CVP alone (77%).

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 ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.