Multicenter phase 2 trial of first-line tazemetostat plus R-CHOP for diffuse large B cell lymphoma in elderly patients

Tazemetostat is an inhibitor of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2). The multicenter phase 2 Epi-R-CHOP in France evaluated the combination of tazemetostat and R-CHOP for newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma in patients aged 60 to 80 years. 82% of patients completed the planned 8 cycles. Complete metabolic response was seen in 75.4% of patients, and partial metabolic response in 6.6%. Two of 122 patients (1.6%) died of septic shock. After a median follow-up of 18.5 months (IQR 15.4-21.0), estimated progression-free survival and overall survival at 18 months were 77.7% (95% CI 67.5-85.1) and 88.8% (79.9-93.9), respectively. The authors conclude that first-line tazemetostat plus R-CHOP is feasible with a promising complete metabolic response rate in elderly DLBCL patients.