FCR or BR in Patients With Previously Untreated B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Clinical Trial

Official title:

Phase III Trial of Combined Immunochemotherapy With Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide and Rituximab (FCR) Versus Bendamustine and Rituximab (BR) in Patients With Previously Untreated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00769522
• Other study ID #: CLL10
• Secondary ID: CDR0000616169200
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: October 2, 2008
• Est. completion date: January 2018

Study information

• Verified date: August 2019
• Source: German CLL Study Group
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and bendamustine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can block cancer growth in different ways. Some block the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Others find cancer cells and help kill them or carry cancer-killing substances to them. It is not yet known whether giving fludarabine and cyclophosphamide together with rituximab is more effective than giving bendamustine together with rituximab in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab to see how well they work compared with bendamustine and rituximab in treating patients with previously untreated B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Description:

OBJECTIVES:

• To compare the therapeutic efficacy of fludarabine phosphate, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab vs bendamustine hydrochloride and rituximab in patients with previously untreated B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

• To compare the incidence of major side effects (e.g., myelosuppression) associated with these regimens in these patients.

• To compare the rate of infections and secondary neoplasias in patients treated with these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to country and disease stage. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive fludarabine phosphate IV and cyclophosphamide IV on days 1-3. Patients also receive rituximab IV on day 0 of course 1 and on day 1 of courses 2-6. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

• Arm II: Patients receive bendamustine hydrochloride IV on days 1 and 2. Patients also receive rituximab as in arm I. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients complete quality of life questionnaires (EORTC-C30 and EURO-QOL) at baseline and then at 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months.

After completion of study therapy, patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then once a year thereafter.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 564
• Est. completion date: January 2018
• Est. primary completion date: July 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Confirmed diagnosis of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) meeting 1 of the following criteria:

• Binet stage C disease or stage B or A disease requiring treatment

• Binet stage B or A disease meeting = 1 of the following:

• B-symptoms (e.g., night sweats, weight loss = 10% within the past 6 months, fevers > 38°C or 100.4°F for = 2 weeks without evidence of infection) or constitutional symptoms (e.g., fatigue)

• Progressive lymphocytosis, defined as peripheral lymphocyte count > 5 x 10^9/L (i.e., > 50% increase over a 2-month period or doubling of peripheral blood lymphocyte count < 6 months)

• Evidence of progressive marrow failure as manifested by the development/worsening of anemia and/or thrombocytopenia

• Massive, progressive, or painful splenomegaly or hypersplenism

• Massive lymph nodes or lymph node clusters (> 10 cm in longest diameter) or progressive or symptomatic lymphadenopathy

• No 17p deletion by FISH

• No aggressive B-cell cancer, such as Richter syndrome

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• WHO performance status 0-2

• Life expectancy = 6 months

• Total bilirubin = 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (unless directly attributable to CLL)

• AST and ALT = 2 times ULN (unless directly attributable to CLL)

• Creatinine clearance = 70 mL/min (creatinine clearance is to be calculated only in patients with serum creatinine = 1.1 mg/dL)

• Not pregnant or nursing

• Negative pregnancy test

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for = 6 months after completion of study therapy

• Hepatitis B and C negative

• HIV negative

• CIRS score > 6 or a single score of 4 for one organ category

• No active secondary malignancy requiring treatment, except basal cell carcinoma or malignant tumor curatively treated by surgery, or successfully treated secondary malignancies in complete remission > 5 years prior to enrollment

• No history of anaphylaxis following exposure to monoclonal antibodies

• No active bacterial, viral, or fungal infection

• No medical condition requiring prolonged use of oral corticosteroids (i.e., > 1 month)

• No cerebral dysfunction or legal incapacity

• No circumstance that would preclude completion of the study or the required follow-up

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• No prior CLL specific-chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and/or immunotherapy

• Prednisolone administered immediately prior to initiation of study therapy allowed for very high lymphocyte counts

• No concurrent participation in another clinical trial

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
• Leukemia
• Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell
• Leukemia, Lymphoid

Intervention

Biological:
• Rituximab
cycle 1: 375 mg/m² i.v., day 0, q28d cycle 2-6: 500 mg/m² i.v., day 1, q28d

Drug:
• Bendamustine
cycle 1-6: 90mg/m² i.v., day 1-2, q28d
• Cyclophosphamide
cycle 1-6: 250 mg/m² i.v., days 1-3, q28d
• Fludarabine
cycle 1-6: 25 mg/m² i.v., days 1-3, q28d

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Germany	Medizinische Universitaetsklinik I at the University of Cologne	Cologne

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
German CLL Study Group	Mundipharma Pte Ltd., Roche Pharma AG

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

References & Publications (5)

Al-Sawaf O, Robrecht S, Bahlo J, Fink AM, Cramer P, von Tresckow J, Maurer C, Bergmann M, Seiler T, Lange E, Kneba M, Stilgenbauer S, Döhner H, Kiehl MG, Jäger U, Wendtner CM, Fischer K, Goede V, Hallek M, Eichhorst B, Hopfinger G. Impact of gender on outcome after chemoimmunotherapy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a meta-analysis by the German CLL study group. Leukemia. 2017 Oct;31(10):2251-2253. doi: 10.1038/leu.2017.221. Epub 2017 Jul 12. — View Citation

Dimier N, Delmar P, Ward C, Morariu-Zamfir R, Fingerle-Rowson G, Bahlo J, Fischer K, Eichhorst B, Goede V, van Dongen JJM, Ritgen M, Böttcher S, Langerak AW, Kneba M, Hallek M. A model for predicting effect of treatment on progression-free survival using MRD as a surrogate end point in CLL. Blood. 2018 Mar 1;131(9):955-962. doi: 10.1182/blood-2017-06-792333. Epub 2017 Dec 18. — View Citation

Eichhorst B, Fink AM, Bahlo J, Busch R, Kovacs G, Maurer C, Lange E, Köppler H, Kiehl M, Sökler M, Schlag R, Vehling-Kaiser U, Köchling G, Plöger C, Gregor M, Plesner T, Trneny M, Fischer K, Döhner H, Kneba M, Wendtner CM, Klapper W, Kreuzer KA, Stilgenba — View Citation

Kovacs G, Robrecht S, Fink AM, Bahlo J, Cramer P, von Tresckow J, Maurer C, Langerbeins P, Fingerle-Rowson G, Ritgen M, Kneba M, Döhner H, Stilgenbauer S, Klapper W, Wendtner CM, Fischer K, Hallek M, Eichhorst B, Böttcher S. Minimal Residual Disease Assessment Improves Prediction of Outcome in Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Who Achieve Partial Response: Comprehensive Analysis of Two Phase III Studies of the German CLL Study Group. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Nov 1;34(31):3758-3765. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.67.1305. — View Citation

Kurtz DM, Esfahani MS, Scherer F, Soo J, Jin MC, Liu CL, Newman AM, Dührsen U, Hüttmann A, Casasnovas O, Westin JR, Ritgen M, Böttcher S, Langerak AW, Roschewski M, Wilson WH, Gaidano G, Rossi D, Bahlo J, Hallek M, Tibshirani R, Diehn M, Alizadeh AA. Dynamic Risk Profiling Using Serial Tumor Biomarkers for Personalized Outcome Prediction. Cell. 2019 Jul 25;178(3):699-713.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.011. Epub 2019 Jul 4. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Progression-free survival rate after 24 months	estimated time point when 198 needed events for the final analysis(PD or deaths) have occured.	2008-2015
Secondary	Minimal residual disease, complete response rates, and partial response rates	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Duration of remission	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Event-free survival	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Overall survival	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Overall response rate	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Response rates in and survival times in biological subgroups	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Toxicity rates	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Quality of life	done within the final analysis	2008-2015
Secondary	Standard safety analysis	done within the final analysis	2008-2015

External Links

•   Click here for more information about this study: CLL10 (German CLL Study Group)