Lenalidomide in combination with vorinostat and dexamethasone for the treatment of relapsed/refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL): report of a phase I/II trial

Given the poor outcome of relapsed and refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL), we explored a combination of lenalidomide, vorinostat, and dexamethasone to test the feasibility of this therapy in relapsed and refractory PTCL. Eight patients were accrued: two peripheral T cell lymphoma, unspecified; five angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma; and one ALK-negative anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. A dose escalation of lenalidomide (days 1-21, q28) was planned using a 3 + 3 design. As two patients treated with 10 mg/day experienced dose-limiting toxicity (thrombocytopenia grade 3, stroke grade 4), the primary end point of our trial was reached; the maximal tolerable dose of lenalidomide was 5 mg/day (level -I). Adverse events grade a parts per thousand yen3 were observed as thrombocytopenia (23 %), leukocytopenia (15 %), anemia (8 %), and neutropenia (8 %). One complete remission (10.3 months), one partial remission (11.3 months), one stable disease (11.9 months), and four progressive disease (overall response rate 25 %) were observed. The median progression-free survival was 2.2 months and the median OS was 6.7 months. In conclusion, the poor results obtained with lenalidomide in combination with vorinostat and dexamethasone provide no arguments that could justify further investigation of this drug combination for the treatment of relapsed PTCL.