Efficacy and safety of bendamustine and rituximab in the treatment of indolent and mantle cell lymphomas in older patients

8572 Background: Promising results have been observed in both our previous phase-II and phase-III studies evaluating the combination of Bendamustine plus Rituximab (B-R) in patients with relapsed/refractory and previously untreated indolent or mantle cell lymphomas. An overall response rate of at least 90%, including a high rate of complete remissions (CR) was documented. Objective: In August 2005 we initiated a multicenter phase-II study to evaluate efficacy and toxicity of the combination B-R in the treatment of patients older than 75 years of age with follicular, indolent and mantle cell lymphomas. Here we report first data from this phase II trial for an elderly patient population. Patients and Methods: 41 pts with indolent and mantle cell lymphomas were enrolled into this trial so far. Median age of the patients was 79 years. Bendamustine was given at a dose of 90 mg/m² on day 1 and 2, combined with Rituximab at a dose of 375 mg/m² on day 1. BR treatment was administered every 28 days, up to a maximu...