Rituximab-based chemoimmunotherapy prolongs survival of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia independently of the time of administration.

Background: The combination of purine analogues (PA) and rituximab (chemoimmunotherapy) is considered the treatment of choice for CLL. The aim of this study was to determine whether chemoimmunotherapy prolonged the overall survival in patients with CLL from a single center.

Patients And Methods: From 1980 to 2010, 273 patients with CLL received: (1) PA (n = 159); and (2) PA plus rituximab (PA+R) (n = 114). All treated patients were included in the analysis, regardless of time at which treatment was administered, duration of therapy, and response.

Results: Patients from the PA and PA+R groups were well balanced for demographic, clinical, and biologic features. At 8 years, the survival from diagnosis of the PA+R group was 88% (95% confidence interval [CI], 82-94%) compared with 68% (95% CI, 60-76%) for the PA group (P < .001). When survival of patients treated with PA+R was analyzed according to the time of treatment administration (first- [n = 55] vs. second or more lines [n = 59]), no significant differences were observed (8-year overall survival 89% vs. 87%, respectively; P = .8).

Conclusion: Chemoimmunotherapy prolonged the survival of patients with CLL and this effect was independent of the phase of the disease at which treatment was given.