Zevalin boosts PFS in follicular lymphoma

Bayer Schering Pharma, part of Germany's Bayer group, says that its drug Zevalin ([90Y] ibritumomab tiusetan) significantly improves progression-free survival in patients suffering advanced follicular lymphoma. Trial data, presented at this year's American Society of Hematology meeting in Atlanta, showed that Zevalin conferred a mean PFS of 37 months, more than double the 13.7 month average achieved by subjects in the control group.

The reported study, known as FIT, examined Zevalin as a single-dose, first-line consolidation therapy in patients with advanced (stage III or IV) disease who have achieved some degree of remission after standard chemotherapy. Subgroup data revealed that, in subjects who had demonstrated a partial response, Zevalin treatment brought about PFS of 29.7 months versus 6.4 months in the comparator group, while those who had achieved completed remission after induction therapy saw average PFS of 54.6 months vs 29.9 months in the equivalent control arm.

Further analysis showed that radiation exposure associated with Zevalin treatment was within safe limits and that hematologic toxicity did not correlate with RM radiation dose estimates. This finding, which is consistent with previously-reported data, suggests that the drug can be safely administered to patients with low-tumor burden.