Registry Shows Real-World Variations in NHL Treatment, Outcomes

Patients with different subtypes of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) may experience differences in treatment outcomes based on variations in management and access throughout Latin America, according to data from the Hemato-Oncology Latin America (HOLA) Observational Registry Study.

This study included 2,967 patients with NHL, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma (FL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Patients were diagnosed between 2006 and 2015 and retrospectively identified using charts in the registry.

Included patients were from Mexico (28.4%), Argentina (20.4%), Colombia (16.6%), Brazil (15.5%), Chile (15.3%), and Panama/Guatemala (3.8%).

Most patients with NHL received frontline chemoimmunotherapy; the most common regimen was cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) with or without rituximab.

The five-year survival rates were higher for MALT lymphoma (90.8%) and FL (87.6%) compared with DLBCL (69.0%) and MCL (57.1%). There were variations in five-year survival rates between countries.

Patients with DLBCL had longer median progression-free survival with frontline rituximab-CHOP (R-CHOP) compared with CHOP or rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (RCVP; 7.7 vs. 3.0 or 1.8 years, respectively). Patients with DLBCL aged younger than 65 years at diagnosis also had lower risk for death compared with patients aged 65 years or older (P=.0161).

The researchers found that use of regimens other than R-CHOP was associated with higher risk of death or progression for patients with DLBCL and FL.

“The HOLA study is the first large scale, real-world, observational study to report treatment pathways and clinical outcomes for patients with NHL in multiple countries across Latin America,” the researchers wrote. “These data are important for informing local improvements in NHL management and for understanding how treatment practices differ compared with other regions in the world.”

Pavlovsky M, Cubero D, Agreda-Vasquez GP, et al. Clinical outcomes of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in real-world settings: findings from the Hemato-Oncology Latin America Observational Registry study. JCO Global Oncol. 2022. doi: 10.1200/GO.21.00265