EPOCH and Rituximab to Treat Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Patients With HIV Infection

NCT ID: NCT00006436

Last Updated: 2025-12-30

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

View full results

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

68 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2001-01-29

Study Completion Date

2024-01-18

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Background:

* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients have a weakened immune system, and chemotherapy, which is used to treat lymphoma, probably causes further damage to the immune system.
* Limiting the amount of immune damage due to chemotherapy might decrease the number of infections and the risk of developing cancer in the future in HIV-infected patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Objectives:

* To determine whether reducing the total amount of chemotherapy using a specific combination of drugs called EPOCH-R (etoposide, doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab) will rid the body of lymphoma quickly while decreasing the risk of infections and future cancers.
* To determine whether the lymphoma will remain undetectable for at least one year if treatment is stopped one cycle after the patient enters remission.

Eligibility:

-Patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and HIV infection 4 years of age and older who have not been treated previously with rituximab or cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Design:

* Patients receive EPOCH-R in 3-week treatment cycles for at least three and no more than six cycles.
* The lymphoma is evaluated using computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans at the end of treatment cycles 2 and 3. A bone marrow biopsy is repeated after cycle 2 if a biopsy was initially positive on screening for participation in the study.
* Anti-HIV therapy is stopped before chemotherapy begins and is restarted when EPOCH-R treatment ends.
* Patients are monitored for treatment response with blood tests and imaging scans at baseline, when treatment ends, 2 months after treatment ends and then every 3 to 6 months for a total of 24 months following chemotherapy.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Background:

This is a study to investigate in a preliminary fashion the feasibility of short course chemotherapy to participants with HIV-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (HIV-NHL).

This study will investigate if the paradigm for treatment can be successfully changed from a standard of 6 cycles to one cycle beyond complete remission with 6 total allowable cycles.

Objective:

To assess with 90 percent probability that at least 50 percent of participants treated with short-course EPOCH-R (etoposide, doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab) will be progression free at one year.

Eligibility:

Aggressive B-lymphocyte antigen CD20 (CD20) positive Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

HIV+ serology.

All stages (I-IV) of disease.

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance status 0-4.

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) previously untreated with cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Age greater than or equal to 18 years.

May not be pregnant or nursing.

May not have received previous rituximab.

Design:

Participants will be treated every three weeks with a combination of EPOCH and rituximab for one cycle beyond complete remission (CR)/complete response unconfirmed (CRu) by computed tomography (CT) scan of all detectable tumors for a minimum of three and maximum of six cycles. Following cycle 2, CT, positron emission tomography scans (PET), and bone marrow biopsies (if initially positive) will be performed.

At the conclusion of the study, we will estimate whether the number of cycles can be reduced using the paradigm. If the cumulative number of participants to relapse exceeds 25 percent by 6 months, the study will be closed.

Following the completion of chemotherapy, restaging will be performed 2 months following the end of treatment, then every 3 months for one year, every 6 months for one year, then every 12 months until relapse, death, or loss to follow up.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) will be given concurrently with treatment regimen.

To study the effects of treatment approach on parameters of HIV disease, measurements of cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) cells and viral loads will be made at baseline and at the completion of therapy, and then 2 months following the end of treatment, and then every 3-6 months for a total of 24 months following chemotherapy.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Lymphoma, AIDS-related Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse

Keywords

Explore important study keywords that can help with search, categorization, and topic discovery.

AIDS Malignancy Antiretroviral Chemotherapy Monoclonal

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Arm 1-Combination Chemo and Biological Therapy

Combination chemo and biological therapy

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Rituximab

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

2 doses of rituximab every cycle: first dose on Day 1 and 2nd dose on Day 5

Filgrastim

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

Filgrastim day 6 until absolute neutrophil count (ANC) reaches 5000 after the nadir, every cycle

EPOCH

Intervention Type DRUG

combination chemotheray: EPOCH every 3 weeks for minimum of 3 cycles and max of 6 cycles

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Rituximab

2 doses of rituximab every cycle: first dose on Day 1 and 2nd dose on Day 5

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

Filgrastim

Filgrastim day 6 until absolute neutrophil count (ANC) reaches 5000 after the nadir, every cycle

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

EPOCH

combination chemotheray: EPOCH every 3 weeks for minimum of 3 cycles and max of 6 cycles

Intervention Type DRUG

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

Rituxan Neupogen etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin hydrochloride

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

Aggressive B-lymphocyte antigen CD20 (CD20) positive Diffuse Large B-cell lymphoma confirmed by Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Note: Participants with aggressive B-cell lymphoma of the plasmablastic lymphoma sub-type who do not have surface CD20 expression, are also eligible.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) + serology.

All stages (I-IV) of disease.

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance status 0-4

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) previously untreated with cytotoxic chemotherapy; however, participants may be entered if they have had prior cyclophosphamide for an urgent problem at diagnosis (e.g., epidural cord compression, superior vena cava syndrome) and/or a single dose of intrathecal methotrexate (MTX) at the time of the pre-treatment diagnostic lumbar puncture

Age greater than or equal to 18 years

Laboratory tests (unless impairment due to respective organ involvement by tumor):

* Creatinine less than or equal to 1.5 mg/dl or creatinine clearance greater than or equal to 50 ml/min
* Bilirubin less than 2.0 mg/dl, or total bilirubin less than or equal to 4.5 mg/dl with direct fraction less than or equal to 0.3 mg/dl in participants for whom these abnormalities are felt to be due to protease inhibitor therapy
* Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) less than or equal to 3x upper limit of normal (ULN) (AST and ALT less than or equal to 6x ULN for participants on hyperalimentation for whom these abnormalities are felt to be due to the hyperalimentation)
* Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) greater than or equal to 1000/mm(3)
* Platelet greater than or equal to 75,000/mm(3) (unless impairment due to Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)

Ability of participant to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

Previous rituximab

Pregnancy or nursing.

\- Doxorubicin, etoposide, vincristine and cyclophosphamide are teratogenic and may be excreted in milk.

Current clinical heart failure or symptomatic ischemic heart disease.

Serious underlying medical condition or infection other than HIV that would contraindicate subcutaneous (SC)-rituximab, etoposide phosphate, prednisone, vincristine sulfate, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin hydrochloride (hydroxydaunorubicin (EPOCH-R).

* Examples include, but are not limited to:
* Severe Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related wasting
* Sever intractable diarrhea
* Active inadequately treated opportunistic infection of the central nervous system (CNS)
* Primary CNS lymphoma

Primary CNS lymphoma
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

NIH

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Max Gordon

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Max Gordon, M.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike

Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Kurtz DM, Scherer F, Jin MC, Soo J, Craig AFM, Esfahani MS, Chabon JJ, Stehr H, Liu CL, Tibshirani R, Maeda LS, Gupta NK, Khodadoust MS, Advani RH, Levy R, Newman AM, Duhrsen U, Huttmann A, Meignan M, Casasnovas RO, Westin JR, Roschewski M, Wilson WH, Gaidano G, Rossi D, Diehn M, Alizadeh AA. Circulating Tumor DNA Measurements As Early Outcome Predictors in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2018 Oct 1;36(28):2845-2853. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2018.78.5246. Epub 2018 Aug 20.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 30125215 (View on PubMed)

Dunleavy K, Pittaluga S, Shovlin M, Steinberg SM, Cole D, Grant C, Widemann B, Staudt LM, Jaffe ES, Little RF, Wilson WH. Low-intensity therapy in adults with Burkitt's lymphoma. N Engl J Med. 2013 Nov 14;369(20):1915-25. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1308392.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 24224624 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

Download supplemental materials such as informed consent forms, study protocols, or participant manuals.

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

01-C-0030

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: secondary_id

010030

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

NCT00020384

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: nct_alias