Efficacy and safety of lenalidomide in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

As an immunomodulatory agent with antitumor activity, lenalidomide has been evaluated for its value in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We performed a meta-analysis to gain a better understanding of the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide in DLBCL. PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched up to March 2022 for potential studies. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) and relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated by the fixed/random effects model. Overall, 6 randomized controlled trials including 1938 patients were included. The complete response rate (CRR) of the group containing lenalidomide was 47.7% (95%CI 28.5–67.2%), which was higher than the 37.8% (95%CI 16.7–61.5%) of the control group without lenalidomide (RR = 1.11, 95%CI 1.03–1.20, P = 0.008). The overall estimation of survival showed a benefit for progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 0.77, 95%CI 0.66–0.90, P = 0.001) but not overall survival (OS) or event-free survival (EFS). The lenalidomide group had a significant incidence of grade ≥ 3 hematological adverse events (AEs) involving neutropenia (RR = 1.56, 95%CI 1.15–2.11, P = 0.004) and febrile neutropenia (RR = 1.81, 95%CI 1.31–2.49, P < 0.001), with the incidence of neutropenia (48.3%, 95%CI 37.5–59.1%) being highest. In conclusion, addition of lenalidomide results in a higher CRR and better PFS but a higher incidence of grade ≥ 3 hematological AEs involving neutropenia and febrile neutropenia.