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News
Long-term ECHO trial data confirm acalabrutinib plus bendamustine-rituximab (BR) significantly outperforms BR alone in previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma. At nearly 5 years of follow-up, the triplet cut the risk of disease progression or death by 32% and delayed the need for subsequent therapies threefold. Concurrent combination therapy proved superior to the sequential approach of adding acalabrutinib after BR.
Updated long-term data from the phase 3 ECHO trial, presented at the 2026 SOHO Annual Meeting, reinforce acalabrutinib (Calquence) plus bendamustine and rituximab (BR) as a preferred frontline regimen for treatment-naive mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). At a median follow-up of nearly 61 months, the triplet delivered a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 72.5 months versus 47.8 months with placebo plus BR — a 32% reduction in the risk of progression or death. Crucially, the need for subsequent anticancer therapy was threefold higher in the placebo/BR arm (33.5% vs. 11%), underscoring the regimen's ability to delay disease relapse.
Overall survival remained not yet estimable in either arm, and the safety profile of the triplet was comparable to BR alone despite continuous acalabrutinib exposure, with no new toxicity signals identified.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: These results make a compelling case for using acalabrutinib concurrently with BR — rather than sequentially — as the standard frontline approach for older, treatment-naive MCL patients, potentially reshaping how clinicians sequence therapies in this challenging lymphoma subtype.
