Clinical Trial Information: Bendamustine-Rituximab (B-R) (BRIGHT Study)

Trial Information: 436 patients will be randomized to receive either Bendamustine-Rituximab (B-R), or conventional therapy (R-CHOP or R-CVP). This is an international Phase III trial intended to compare the effectiveness of bendamustine with a conventional alkalating agent/anthracycline-based regimen, CHOP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and doxorubicin) or CVP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone).

This study is recruiting people with follicular lymphoma, mantle call lymphoma, Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, and marginal zone B-cell lymphomas. This is for patients eligible for first-line treatment, i.e. previously untreated and having one or more criteria for treatment (B symptoms, bulky disease, etc.).


Background Information: Rituximab is a standard drug of choice in first-line treatment. It is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody which has proven highly effective in treating indolent lymphomas, and R-CHOP and R-CVP combination regimens tend to achieve 80-95% response rates in the clinical trial setting.

Bendamustine is an extremely powerful alkalating agent developed in Communist East Germany and recently re-introduced to cancer therapy in the Western world. In previous studies, relapsed and refractory patients (ie.. second-line treatment and beyond) given the B-R regimen had response rates of 75%-85%. Response rates in first-line therapy may be substantially higher. Given sufficiently positive results, bendamustine may replace CHOP in certain settings.

Canadian Locations: Calgary, AB (Tom Baker Cancer Institute); Vancouver, BC (B.C. Cancer Agency and St. Paul's Hospital); Winnipeg, MB (Cancer Care Manitoba); St. John's, NL (Memorial University); Halifax, NS (Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center); Ottawa, ON (Ottawa Hospital); and Montreal, QC (Royal Victoria Hospital).

For more information, see ClinicalTrials.gov.