Chidamide plus prednisone, cyclophosphamide, and thalidomide for relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma: A multicenter phase II trial

Abstract Background: Although the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) has undergone advancements during the past several years, the response rate and long-term effects with respect to patients with PTCL remain unsatisfactory—particularly for relapsed or refractory (R/R) patients. This phase II trial was designed to explore the efficacy and safety of an all-oral regimen of chidamide plus prednisone, cyclophosphamide, and thalidomide (CPCT) for R/R PTCL patients who could not tolerate the standard chemotherapy for a variety of reasons. Methods: We conducted a multicenter phase II clinical trial in which we combined chidamide (30 mg twice weekly) with prednisone (20 mg daily after breakfast), cyclophosphamide (50 mg daily after lunch), and thalidomide (100 mg daily at bedtime) (the CPCT regimen) for a total of fewer than 12 cycles as an induction-combined treatment period, and then applied chidamide as single-drug maintenance. Forty-five patients were ultimately enrolled from August 2016 to April 2021 with respect to Chinese patients at nine centers. Our primary objective was to assess the overall response rate (ORR) after the treatment with CPCT. Results: Of the 45 enrolled patients, the optimal ORR and complete response (CR)/CR unconfirmed (CRu) were 71.1% (32/45) and 28.9% (13/45), respectively, and after a median follow-up period of 56 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 8.5 months and 17.2 months, respectively. The five-year PFS and OS rates were 21.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.9–34.5 %) and 43.8% (95% CI, 28.3–59.3 %), respectively. The most common adverse event was neutropenia (20/45, 44.4%), but we observed no treatment-related death. Conclusion: The all-oral CPCT regimen was an effective and safety regimen for R/R PTCL patients who could not tolerate standard chemotherapy for various reasons. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02879526.