Study Shows Improved Outcomes in Older Adults With Mantle Cell Lymphoma Following Adoption of New Therapies
New findings from a large, retrospective cohort study using SEER-Medicare data highlight improvements in survival outcomes over time among older adults with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), likely associated with the adoption of novel therapeutic agents, particularly rituximab-bendamustine (BR) and Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKis).
The study evaluated 5441 patients aged over 65 years old who were diagnosed with MCL between 2002 and 2019. Among them, 79.5% received first-line treatment and 34.1% received second-line treatment. Researchers assessed survival from the time of first-line therapy (OS1), time from second-line therapy (OS2), and time to next therapy or death (TTNT), with stratification by year of diagnosis and treatment category.
Use of BR as a first-line therapy increased substantially over time, from fewer than 2% of patients diagnosed between 2002 and 2005 to 54% between 2014 and 2019. Among those diagnosed from 2014 to 2019, BTKi-containing regimens—approved in 2013 for use in the second-line setting—were used in 8% of first-line and 54% of second-line regimens.
Significant improvements were observed in OS1 (P < .0001), along with gains in TTNT and, to a lesser extent, OS2. The more modest OS2 improvements suggest that while advances in initial treatment have had a positive impact, outcomes following disease progression remain an area of unmet need.
These findings underscore the evolving treatment landscape for MCL and support continued development of novel agents with distinct mechanisms of action to further improve outcomes, particularly in the relapsed/refractory setting.
Reference
Luan D, Easwar N, Chen Z, et al. Improvements in outcomes in older patients with mantle cell lymphoma are associated with improvements across multiple lines of therapy. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2025;25(6):e383-e392.e1. doi:10.1016/j.clml.2025.01.008
