Researchers Simulate the Lifetime Treatment Burden of Follicular Lymphoma

Around two-thirds of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) receive at least two lines of therapy, and one-third receive at least three lines during their lifetime, despite the presence of long remission periods, according to a study led by Aino Rajamäki, MD, of the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio.

The study, published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, noted that 97% of all patients received at least one active therapy during the disease period. Findings were based on a 20-year simulation of the lifetime burden of treatment in patients with low-grade FL.

The retrospective analysis included 743 patients with FL. Researchers first developed a competing risk model to simulate disease transitions after both diagnosis and first-line therapy. The simulated outcomes were then checked against existing data.

Over the 20 years, the median number of lines of therapy received by each patient was two. Specific estimates for each number of lines were as follows:

• First-line: 97% (2.5%-97.5%; range, 96-98)
• Second-line: 66% (2.5%-97.5%; range, 61-70)
• Third-line: 34% (2.5%-97.5%; range, 30-41)
• Fourth-line: 15% (2.5%-97.5%; range, 9-18)

“This study provides a new tool for clinicians and policymakers to [use to] estimate the number of patients receiving subsequent therapy lines and to understand the current status of FL in a rapidly evolving landscape,” Dr. Rajamäki and colleagues concluded.

Reference

Rajamäki A, Hujo M, Sund R, et al. Estimating the lifetime treatment burden of patients with follicular lymphoma: a retrospective study using real-world multicenter data. JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2023. doi:10.1200/CCI.23.00067