Multicenter phase 2 study of ibrutinib plus rituximab for indolent clinical forms of mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is usually considered an aggressive lymphoid neoplasm. Some patients however show an indolent clinical course with long survival times even in the absence of intensive therapy. The multicenter phase 2 IMCL-2015 trial in Spain evaluated frontline ibrutinib in combination with rituximab for indolent clinical forms of MCL. The combinaton achieved a high rate of complete responses and undetectable minimal residual disease. Ibrutinib discontinuation after two years was safe in cases with undetectable MRD, except for TP53-mutated cases.