Japanese phase II study of 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan in patients with relapsed or refractory indolent B-cell lymphoma

There is no data about the efficacy and safety of radioimmunotherapy with 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan in patients with relapsed or refractory indolent B-cell lymphoma pretreated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy. We focused on this in a Japanese phase II study. Radioimmunotherapy with 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (11.1 and 14.8 MBq) was evaluated in patients with 100–149 × 109 and >150 × 109 platelets/L, respectively. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate. Forty patients were treated with 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (18 with 11.1 MBq/kg and 22 with 14.8 MBq/kg). Thirty-five patients (88%) had been pretreated with rituximab, including 27 (68%) pretreated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy. The overall response rate was 83% (33/40; 95% confidence interval, 67–93%), and the complete response rate was 68% (27/40; 95% confidence interval, 51–81%). The overall response rates in patients pretreated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy and rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) were 83% (19/23) and 94% (17/18), respectively. The median progression-free survival time of the 40 patients who received 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan was 9.6 months. Toxicity was primarily hematological and mostly transient. No grade 4 non-hematological toxicity was observed. In conclusion, radioimmunotherapy with 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan is safe and highly effective in patients with relapsed or refractory indolent B-cell lymphoma, including those pretreated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00220285) (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 158–164)