A study recently published by Dr. Daryl Tan and colleagues from Stanford University shows encouraging progress in the improvement of overall survival time for Follicular Grade 1-2 Lymphoma at all stages of disease progression.
A study recently published by Dr. Daryl Tan and colleagues from Stanford University shows encouraging progress in the improvement of overall survival time for Follicular Grade 1-2 Lymphoma at all stages of disease progression. 1,334 patients were included in the study and received treatment at the Stanford University Medical Center between 1960 and 2003. This period was divided into 4 treatment-specific eras.
- Era 1: Preanthracycline (1960-1975)
- Era 2: Anthracyclin (1976-1986)
- Era 3: Aggressive chemotherapy/purine analogs (1987-1996)
- Era 4: Rituximab (1997-2003)
The overall survival (OS) for the patients was calculated from the date of diagnosis to death related to any cause and was determined for each treatment era. OS increased from 11 years in Era 1 and Era 2 to 18.5 years in Era 3. Although the OS has not yet been determined for Era 4, no plateau has been observed so it is very likely this positive trend in OS improvement will continue. There are a couple of other encouraging results from this study. The 10-year overall survival also increased from 54% in Eras 1 and 2 to 68% in Era 3 and 73% in Era 4. In addition, gains in OS were seen in both early stage (1-2) and late stage (3-4) FL Grade 1-2 patients.
This increase in overall survival is likely due to advancements in treatment and supportive care. These results are extremely encouraging and illustrate that the progress achieved toward current treatments are in fact having a positive impact and improving overall survival for Follicular Grade 1-2 Lymphoma patients.
