Immune priming with avelumab and rituximab prior to R-CHOP in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Immune evasion, due to abnormal expression of PD-L1/L2, predicts poor outcomes with chemoimmunotherapy in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Immune checkpoint inhibition has limited efficacy at relapse, but may sensitize relapse lymphoma to subsequent chemotherapy. The multicenter phase 2 AvR-CHOP study in Australia found that immune priming with avelumab and rituximab, prior to R-CHOP followed by avelumab consolidation for newly diagnosed stage II-IV DLBCL had acceptable toxicity and encouraging efficacy (two-year failure-free and overall survival 82% and 89%, respectively).