BSH 2022 | POLARIX study: frontline therapy in DLBCL

Graham Collins, MA, MBBS, MRCP, FRCPath, DPhil, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK, discusses data from the Phase III POLARIX study (NCT03274492) which evaluated polatuzumab vedotin plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (pola-R-CHP) versus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP) therapy in patients with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Polatuzumab is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting CD79b. The primary endpoint of the study was investigator-assessed progression free survival (PFS) and was met, although no benefit in overall survival (OS) was reported. However, Dr Collins notes that a longer follow up might be needed to see any benefit in OS. Initially it looks like patients with an international prognostic index (IPI) score of 3+ seem to particularly benefit from treatment with pola-R-CHP. Although, Dr Collins comments that these sub-group analyses require careful interpretation. This interview took place at the 62nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the British Society for Haematology (BSH) 2022, in Manchester, UK.