Modified R-CODOX-M/IVAC chemotherapy regimens in Chinese patients with untreated sporadic Burkitt lymphoma

To characterize modified R-CODOX-M/IVAC-based chemotherapy to lower the severe adverse events in Chinese adult patients with sporadic Burkitt lymphoma.

We enrolled a retrospective cohort including 123 adult patients with untreated sporadic Burkitt lymphoma from August 2008 to September 2019 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. We studied a dose-modified and long-course R-CODOX-M/IVAC regimen utilizing a low dose of 1.0 g/m²/cycle cyclophosphamide, 2 g/m²/cycle methotrexate, 4,500 mg/m²/cycle ifosfamide, and 4.0 g/m²/cycle cytarabine. Forty-nine patients with low risk disease underwent 4-6 cycles of dose-modified R-CODOX-M-based chemotherapy. Seventy-four patients with high risk disease underwent 6-8 cycles of dose-modified alternating R-CODOX-M/IVAC regimens.

The objective remission was 87.0%. The event-free survival rate and overall survival at 3 years were 81.2% and 92.1%, respectively. Major grade 3-4 adverse events included leukopenia (91.9%), anemia (58.5%), thrombocytopenia (73.2%), and febrile neutropenia (48.8%). A total of 26.0% and 37.4% of patients received red blood cell and platelet transfusions, respectively. We observed 4 cases (3.3%) of septic shock after chemotherapy. Two treatment-related deaths occurred from severe infection.

The modified R-CODOX-M/IVAC chemotherapy regimen was effective for sporadic Burkitt lymphoma in the Chinese population, with a lower toxicity than standard regimens.