Transformed lymphoma

Carboplatin & Paclitaxel (CP)

CP: Carboplatin & Paclitaxel

Regimen

Study	Dates of enrollment	Evidence	Comparator	Comparative Efficacy
Forde et al. 2022 (CheckMate 816)	2017-2019	Phase 3 (C)	1a. CP & Nivolumab 1b. CVb & Nivolumab 1c. DC & Nivolumab	Inferior EFS

Note: there were additional comparator options depending on histology; see the respective histology-specific pages for more details. This study was conducted in the United States. The reason for the study was that an unanswered question at the time was whether adding an immune checkpoint inhibitor would improve outcomes.

Biomarker eligibility criteria

• CheckMate 816: No sensitizing EGFR or ALK mutations

Chemotherapy

• Carboplatin (Paraplatin) AUC 5 or 6 IV once on day 1
• Paclitaxel (Taxol) 175 or 200 mg/m² IV once on day 1

21-day cycle for 3 cycles

Subsequent treatment

• Complete resection

References

1. CheckMate 816: Forde PM, Spicer J, Lu S, Provencio M, Mitsudomi T, Awad MM, Felip E, Broderick SR, Brahmer JR, Swanson SJ, Kerr K, Wang C, Ciuleanu TE, Saylors GB, Tanaka F, Ito H, Chen KN, Liberman M, Vokes EE, Taube JM, Dorange C, Cai J, Fiore J, Jarkowski A, Balli D, Sausen M, Pandya D, Calvet CY, Girard N; CheckMate 816 Investigators. Neoadjuvant Nivolumab plus Chemotherapy in Resectable Lung Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2022 May 26;386(21):1973-1985. Epub 2022 Apr 11. link to original article contains dosing details in manuscript PubMed NCT02998528

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18 regimens on this page 18 variants on this page

Transformed lymphoma, often referred to as Richter's transformation, most commonly arises from a preceding indolent lymphoma - usually follicular lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It is typically treated as per the histologic subtype, which is usually DLBCL. However, some regimens specific to transformed lymphoma have been developed and are included here.

All lines of therapy

Bendamustine monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence
Friedberg et al. 2008	Phase II, <20 pts in this subgroup

Chemotherapy

Note: these infusion instructions are for the Treanda formulation, which was discontinued on 3/31/2016.

• Bendamustine 120 mg/m² IV over 60 to 120 minutes once per day on days 1 & 2

21-day cycle for up to 12 cycles

References

1. Friedberg JW, Cohen P, Chen L, Robinson KS, Forero-Torres A, La Casce AS, Fayad LE, Bessudo A, Camacho ES, Williams ME, van der Jagt RH, Oliver JW, Cheson BD. Bendamustine in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent and transformed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: results from a phase II multicenter, single-agent study. J Clin Oncol. 2008 Jan 10;26(2):204-10. Erratum in: J Clin Oncol. 2008 Apr 10;26(11) 1911. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

¹³¹Iodine-Tositumomab monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence
Vose et al. 2000	Phase II

Also evaluated in low-grade NHL but subtype was not specified. Now obsolete as this drug has been discontinued.

Dosimetric step

• On Day 0, infusions of:
  • Tositumomab 450 mg IV over 1 hour
  • Tositumomab 35 mg labeled with 5 mCi of Iodine-131 IV over 20 minutes
  • First scan of whole body dosimetry & redistribution
• Day 2, 3, or 4: Second scan of whole body dosimetry & redistribution
• Day 6 or 7: Third scan of whole body dosimetry & redistribution

Therapeutic step

• Any day from day 7-14, infusions of:
  • Tositumomab 450 mg IV over 1 hour
  • Tositumomab 35 mg labeled with an individually calculated dose of Iodine-131 that will provide 75 cGy of radiation to the total body IV over 20 minutes
    • 65 cGy total body dose used for patients with platelet counts of 100-150,000/mm3

Calculated dose of I-131 is based on information from serial total-body gamma-camera counts

References

1. Vose JM, Wahl RL, Saleh M, Rohatiner AZ, Knox SJ, Radford JA, Zelenetz AD, Tidmarsh GF, Stagg RJ, Kaminski MS. Multicenter phase II study of iodine-131 tositumomab for chemotherapy-relapsed/refractory low-grade and transformed low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. J Clin Oncol. 2000 Mar;18(6):1316-23. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

Lenalidomide monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence
Witzig et al. 2011 (NHL-003	Phase II

Chemotherapy

• Lenalidomide (Revlimid) 25 mg PO once per day on days 1 to 21

28-day cycles until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity

References

1. Witzig TE, Vose JM, Zinzani PL, Reeder CB, Buckstein R, Polikoff JA, Bouabdallah R, Haioun C, Tilly H, Guo P, Pietronigro D, Ervin-Haynes AL, Czuczman MS. An international phase II trial of single-agent lenalidomide for relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ann Oncol. 2011 Jul;22(7):1622-7. Epub 2011 Jan 12. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

Lenalidomide & Rituximab

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Regimen

Study	Evidence
Wang et al. 2013	Phase II, <20 pts in this subgroup

Chemotherapy

• Lenalidomide (Revlimid) 20 mg PO once per day on days 1 to 21
• Rituximab (Rituxan) 375 mg/m² IV once per week on weeks 1 to 4 of cycle 1, only

28-day cycles

References

1. Wang M, Fowler N, Wagner-Bartak N, Feng L, Romaguera J, Neelapu SS, Hagemeister F, Fanale M, Oki Y, Pro B, Shah J, Thomas S, Younes A, Hosing C, Zhang L, Newberry KJ, Desai M, Cheng N, Badillo M, Bejarano M, Chen Y, Young KH, Champlin R, Kwak L, Fayad L. Oral lenalidomide with rituximab in relapsed or refractory diffuse large cell, follicular and transformed lymphoma: a phase II clinical trial. Leukemia. 2013 Sep;27(9):1902-9. Epub 2013 Apr 2. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

OFAR

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OFAR: Oxaliplatin, Fludarabine, Ara-C (Cytarabine), Rituximab

Regimen

Study	Evidence
Tsimberidou et al. 2008	Phase II

Chemotherapy

• Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) 25 mg/m² IV over 2 hours once per day on days 1 to 4
• Fludarabine (Fludara) 30 mg/m² IV once per day on days 2 & 3, adminstered within 30 minutes of completion of Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
• Cytarabine (Cytosar) 1000 mg/m² IV over 2 hours once per day on days 2 & 3, 4 hours after Fludarabine (Fludara) started
• Rituximab (Rituxan) as follows:
  • Cycle 1: 375 mg/m² IV over 4 to 6 hours once on day 3
  • Cycles 2 to 6: 375 mg/m² IV over 4 to 6 hours once on day 1

Supportive medications

• Pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) 6 mg SC once on day 6
• Herpes zoster and PCP (Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia) prophylaxis used

28-day cycle for up to 6 cycles

References

1. Tsimberidou AM, Wierda WG, Plunkett W, Kurzrock R, O'Brien S, Wen S, Ferrajoli A, Ravandi-Kashani F, Garcia-Manero G, Estrov Z, Kipps TJ, Brown JR, Fiorentino A, Lerner S, Kantarjian HM, Keating MJ. Phase I-II study of oxaliplatin, fludarabine, cytarabine, and rituximab combination therapy in patients with Richter's syndrome or fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. J Clin Oncol. 2008 Jan 10;26(2):196-203. link to original article contains protocol PubMed

Pembrolizumab monotherapy

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Regimen

Study	Evidence	ORR
Ding et al. 2017	Phase II, <20 pts in this subgroup	44%

Immunotherapy

• Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) 200 mg IV once on day 1

21-day cycle for up to 2 years

References

1. Ding W, LaPlant BR, Call TG, Parikh SA, Leis JF, He R, Shanafelt TD, Sinha S, Le-Rademacher J, Feldman AL, Habermann TM, Witzig TE, Wiseman GA, Lin Y, Asmus E, Nowakowski GS, Conte MJ, Bowen DA, Aitken CN, Van Dyke DL, Greipp PT, Liu X, Wu X, Zhang H, Secreto CR, Tian S, Braggio E, Wellik LE, Micallef I, Viswanatha DS, Yan H, Chanan-Khan AA, Kay NE, Dong H, Ansell SM. Pembrolizumab in patients with CLL and Richter transformation or with relapsed CLL. Blood. 2017 Jun 29;129(26):3419-3427. Epub 2017 Apr 19. link to original article contains verified protocol link to PMC article PubMed

R-DHAP

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R-DHAP: Rituximab, Dexamethasone, High-dose Ara-C (Cytarabine), Platinol (Cisplatin)

Regimen

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Crump et al. 2014 (NCIC-CTG LY.12)	Phase III	R-GDP	Not reported

Chemotherapy

• Rituximab (Rituxan) 375 mg/m² IV once on day 1
• Dexamethasone (Decadron) 40 mg PO once per day on days 1 to 4
• Cytarabine (Cytosar) 2000 mg/m² IV over 3 hours Q12H on day 2 (total of 2 doses)
• Cisplatin (Platinol) 100 mg/m² IV continuous infusion over 24 hours on day 1

21-day cycle for up to 3 cycles

References

1. Crump M, Kuruvilla J, Couban S, MacDonald DA, Kukreti V, Kouroukis CT, Rubinger M, Buckstein R, Imrie KR, Federico M, Di Renzo N, Howson-Jan K, Baetz T, Kaizer L, Voralia M, Olney HJ, Turner AR, Sussman J, Hay AE, Djurfeldt MS, Meyer RM, Chen BE, Shepherd LE. Randomized comparison of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin versus dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin chemotherapy before autologous stem-cell transplantation for relapsed and refractory aggressive lymphomas: NCIC-CTG LY.12. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Nov 1;32(31):3490-6. Epub 2014 Sep 29. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed
   1. Subgroup Analysis: Kuruvilla J, MacDonald DA, Kouroukis CT, Cheung M, Olney HJ, Turner AR, Anglin P, Seftel M, Ismail WS, Luminari S, Couban S, Baetz T, Meyer RM, Hay AE, Shepherd L, Djurfeldt MS, Alamoudi S, Chen BE, Crump M. Salvage chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation for transformed indolent lymphoma: a subset analysis of NCIC CTG LY12. Blood. 2015 Aug 6;126(6):733-8. Epub 2015 Jun 24. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

R-EPOCH

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R-EPOCH: Rituximab, Etoposide, Prednisone, Oncovin (Vincristine), Cyclophosphamide, Hydroxydaunorubicin (Doxorubicin)

Regimen

Study	Evidence
Jermann et al. 2004	Phase II, <20 pts in this subgroup

Note: this is not the dose-adjusted R-EPOCH regimen

Chemotherapy

• Rituximab (Rituxan) 375 mg/m² IV once on day 1
• Etoposide (Vepesid) 65 mg/m²/day IV continuous infusion on days 2 to 4 (total dose per cycle: 195 mg/m²)
• Prednisone (Sterapred) 60 mg/m²/day PO on days 1 to 14
• Vincristine (Oncovin) 0.5 mg/m²/day IV continuous infusion on days 2 to 4 (total dose per cycle: 1.5 mg/m²)
• Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) 750 mg/m² IV once on day 5
• Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) 15 mg/m²/day IV continuous infusion on days 2 to 4 (total dose per cycle: 45 mg/m²)

21-day cycle for 4 to 6 cycles

References

1. Jermann M, Jost LM, Taverna Ch, Jacky E, Honegger HP, Betticher DC, Egli F, Kroner T, Stahel RA. Rituximab-EPOCH, an effective salvage therapy for relapsed, refractory or transformed B-cell lymphomas: results of a phase II study. Ann Oncol. 2004 Mar;15(3):511-6. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed

R-GDP

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R-GDP: Rituximab, Gemcitabine, Dexamethasone, Platinol (Cisplatin)

Regimen

Study	Evidence	Comparator	Efficacy
Crump et al. 2014 (NCIC-CTG LY.12)	Phase III	R-DHAP	Not reported

Chemotherapy

• Rituximab (Rituxan) 375 mg/m² IV once on day 1
• Gemcitabine (Gemzar) 1000 mg/m² IV once per day on days 1 & 8
• Dexamethasone (Decadron) 40 mg PO once per day on days 1 to 4
• Cisplatin (Platinol) 75 mg/m² IV once on day 1

21-day cycle for up to 3 cycles

Responders proceeded to undergo autologous stem cell transplant.

References

1. Crump M, Kuruvilla J, Couban S, MacDonald DA, Kukreti V, Kouroukis CT, Rubinger M, Buckstein R, Imrie KR, Federico M, Di Renzo N, Howson-Jan K, Baetz T, Kaizer L, Voralia M, Olney HJ, Turner AR, Sussman J, Hay AE, Djurfeldt MS, Meyer RM, Chen BE, Shepherd LE. Randomized Comparison of Gemcitabine, Dexamethasone, and Cisplatin Versus Dexamethasone, Cytarabine, and Cisplatin Chemotherapy Before Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation for Relapsed and Refractory Aggressive Lymphomas: NCIC-CTG LY.12. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Nov 1;32(31):3490-6. Epub 2014 Sep 29. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed
   1. Subgroup Analysis: Kuruvilla J, MacDonald DA, Kouroukis CT, Cheung M, Olney HJ, Turner AR, Anglin P, Seftel M, Ismail WS, Luminari S, Couban S, Baetz T, Meyer RM, Hay AE, Shepherd L, Djurfeldt MS, Alamoudi S, Chen BE, Crump M. Salvage chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation for transformed indolent lymphoma: a subset analysis of NCIC CTG LY12. Blood. 2015 Aug 6;126(6):733-8. Epub 2015 Jun 24. link to original article contains verified protocol PubMed