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News
A phase 3 trial just handed frontline DLBCL treatment its biggest shake-up in decades. Adding epcoritamab to the long-standing R-CHOP regimen slashed the risk of disease progression or death by 51% in newly diagnosed, high-risk patients. It's the first phase 3 bispecific antibody combination to hit this milestone in frontline DLBCL — and experts say it could redefine the standard of care.
R-CHOP has been the go-to treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) for nearly 25 years — but a new phase 3 trial may finally have a worthy upgrade. The EPCORE DLBCL-2 trial found that adding epcoritamab (Epkinly), a bispecific antibody, to R-CHOP significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with newly diagnosed, high-risk DLBCL. This marks the first time a bispecific antibody combination has cleared this bar in the frontline setting.
The trial enrolled patients aged 18–79 with an IPI score of 2–5 (a measure of disease risk), randomizing them 2:1 to receive epcoritamab plus R-CHOP or R-CHOP alone. The combination was generally well tolerated, with a safety profile consistent with what's already known about each agent individually.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: DLBCL is an aggressive cancer, and many newly diagnosed patients still relapse on R-CHOP alone. A 51% reduction in progression risk could translate to more patients achieving durable remission — potentially curing more people upfront and reducing the need for salvage therapies.
