Dr. Goy on Impact of Lenalidomide on MCL Treatment

Andre Goy, MD, MS, chairman and director, chief of Lymphoma, and director of Clinical and Translational Cancer Research at John Theurer Cancer Center, discusses the impact lenalidomide (Revlimid) has had on the treatment paradigm of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Lenalidomide was the second agent approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with MCL, based on findings of a phase II trial, Goy explains.The response rate in heavily pretreated patients who received lenalidomide was 33% with an 8% complete response (CR) rate. Responses were quite durable, lasting up to approximately 17 months.

Even in patients who had failed multiple lines of therapy, this offered an opportunity to treat patients with another combination of lenalidomide and rituximab (Rituxan). In this regimen, there was a response rate close to 60% with a CR rate of nearly 40%, Goy adds.