Treatment Outcomes with Standard of Care in Relapsed/Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: Real-World Data Analysis

Introduction: Despite new therapies for relapsed or refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), treatments with chemotherapy, single-agent rituximab/obinutuzumab, single-agent lenalidomide, or combinations of these agents continue to be commonly used.

Methods: This retrospective study utilized longitudinal data from 4226 real-world electronic health records to characterize outcomes in patients with R/R DLBCL. Eligible patients were diagnosed with DLBCL between January 2010 and March 2022 and had R/R disease treated with ≥ 1 prior systemic line of therapy (LOT), including ≥ 1 anti-CD20-containing regimen.

Results: A total of 573 patients treated with ≥ 1 prior LOT were included (31.2% and 13.4% with ≥ 2 and ≥ 3 prior LOTs, respectively). Median duration of follow-up was 7.7 months. Most patients (57.1%) were male; mean standard deviation (SD) age was 63 (14.7) years. Overall and complete response rates (95% confidence interval (CI) were 52% (48-56) and 23% (19-27). Median duration of response and duration of complete response were 3.5 and 18.4 months. Median progression-free and overall survival (95% CI) was 3.0 (2.8-3.3) and 12.9 (10.1-16.9) months, respectively. Patients with a higher number of prior LOTs, primary refractoriness, refractoriness to last LOT, refractoriness to last anti-CD20-containing regimen, and prior CAR T exposure had worse outcomes (i.e., challenging-to-treat R/R DLBCL) compared with those without these characteristics.

Conclusions: Outcomes in patients with R/R DLBCL treated with chemotherapy, single-agent rituximab/obinutuzumab, single-agent lenalidomide, or combinations of these agents remain poor, especially for those with challenging-to-treat R/R DLBCL. These findings underscore the unmet need for new, safe, and effective therapies, especially for challenging-to-treat R/R DLBCL populations.