New drug combo aims to spare seniors from chemo
NCT ID NCT05025423
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This phase 2 trial tested a combination of two drugs, venetoclax and rituximab, as a first treatment for people over 60 with mantle cell lymphoma. The goal was to see if this chemo-free approach could shrink or control the cancer. However, the study was stopped early after enrolling only 7 participants, so we don't have enough data to know if it works.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- venetoclax and rituximab
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a chemotherapy-free initial treatment option for older patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
- What could go wrong
- The trial was terminated early with only 7 participants, so results are very limited. It is unclear if the combination is effective or safe enough to replace standard treatments.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
-
7 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jun 2022
- Finished
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May 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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60 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Subjects must have a histologically confirmed diagnosis of mantle cell lymphoma as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) classification scheme. * Age ≥ 60 * Subjects must be previously untreated for mantle cell lymphoma and deemed to require treatment by the treating physician * ECOG performance status of 0-3 * Subject must have adequate bone marrow\* without growth factor support as follows: * Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) ≥ 1000/μL * Platelets ≥ 75,000/mm3 (entry platelet count must be independent of transfusion within 14 days of Screening) * Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL \* These criteria may be waived by study investigators if there is evidence of bone marrow involvement by MCL that is believed to be the cause of the cytopenias. * Subject must have adequate renal, and hepatic function, per laboratory reference range at screening as follows: * Subject must have adequate renal, and hepatic function, per laboratory reference range at screening as follows: * Calculated creatinine clearance ≥ 40 mL/min; determined via the Cockcroft-Gault formula. * AST and ALT ≤ 3.0 × ULN; Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 × ULN\*. Subjects with Gilbert's Syndrome may have a bilirubin \> 1.5 × ULN * These criteria may be waived by study investigators if abnormal values believed to be due to lymphoma. * Female subjects must be surgically sterile, postmenopausal (for at least 1 year), or have negative results for a pregnancy test performed as follows: * At Screening on a serum sample obtained within 14 days prior to the first study drug administration, and * Prior to dosing on a urine sample obtained on Cycle 1 Day 1 if it has been \> 7 days since obtaining the serum pregnancy test results. * All female subjects not surgically sterile or postmenopausal (for at least 1 year) and non-vasectomized male subjects must practice at least 1 of the following methods of birth control: 1. Total abstinence from sexual intercourse (minimum 1 complete menstrual cycle); 2. A vasectomized partner(s); 3. Hormonal contraceptives (oral, parenteral, vaginal ring or transdermal) for at least 3 months prior to study drug administration; 4. Double-barrier method (condoms and diaphragm with spermicidal \[sponge, jellies or creams\]). * Ability to understand and willingness to sign IRB-approved informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Subject has blastoid-variant mantle cell lymphoma * Subject requires immediate cytoreduction as determined by study investigators * Subject has documented CNS involvement of mantle cell lymphoma * Subject has Ann Arbor stage I or contiguous stage II mantle cell lymphoma * Subject has an uncontrolled infection * Subject has HIV infection * All subjects will be screened for Hepatitis B (HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc IgM and total) and Hepatitis C (antibody or RNA). Subjects who are positive for Hepatitis B by HBsAg or DNA as well as subjects positive for Hepatitis C will be excluded. Subjects with anti-HBc positivity and DNA negative may be included but will be required to undergo monthly HBV DNA testing and liver function liver function testing (AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin). Patients with HCV antibody positivity and HCV pcr negativity are eligible to be included. * Subject requires the use of warfarin * Subject has received immunization with live virus vaccine within 28 days prior to the first dose of study drug * A female subject is pregnant or breast-feeding
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, Maryland, 21231, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Off-the-Shelf Gene-Edited immune cells tested against Hard-to-Treat lymphoma
- Triple drug combo targets mantle cell lymphoma
- New drug joins standard chemotherapy in fight against B-Cell lymphoma
- Which lymphoma drug combo works best? a new study aims to find out
- Can a Three-Drug combo erase mantle cell lymphoma without chemotherapy?
- Can a single injection reprogram immune cells to fight cancer?