Lawrence D. Kaplan, MD, clinical professor of medicine, director, Adult Lymphoma Program, Division of Hematology-Oncology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses frontline treatment options in follicular lymphoma.

Currently, chemotherapy plus rituximab (Rituxan) remains the standard frontline therapy in follicular lymphoma, says Kaplan.

The phase III RELEVANCE trial looked at a non-chemotherapy regimen of rituximab and lenalidomide (Revlimid; R²) versus rituximab and chemotherapy in the frontline setting; however, the trial failed to meet its co-primary endpoint of improved progression-free survival with R² versus rituximab and chemotherapy.

Despite this, R² has shown activity in the frontline setting and should be considered a reasonable treatment for patients who do not want chemotherapy, concludes Kaplan.