Do recent reports of prolonged survival in patients with follicular lymphoma suggest that deferral of therapy is no longer justifiable?
After an era in which it was unclear whether available systemic therapies for follicular lymphoma (FL) had influenced the survival of patients, several recent reports now suggest that survival of FL patients has improved over the past 25 years, presumably owing to expansion of therapeutic options. Has the pendulum swung so far that it is no longer justifiable to defer therapy in selected patients with FL? To date, the strongest evidence in support of treating all patients comes from randomized studies of different regimens suggesting that one offers a survival advantage over the other. The strongest evidence in support of deferring therapy for select patients comes from a few problematic randomized trials showing no difference between initial therapy and deferred therapy. The subset of patients with early-stage FL presents special but still inconclusive considerations. Accrual to prospective randomized trials is needed to answer the question.
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Brian K
BK
Department of Internal Medicine & Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, C32 GH, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. brian-link@uiowa.edu
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003657:Decision Making; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors