Copanlisib in Combination With Rituximab and CHOP Chemotherapy in Patients With Previously Untreated DLBCL

Patients diagnosed with DLBCL can be cured with a combined approach of CHOP chemotherapy and the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab in roughly 65% of cases. About one third of patients with DLBCL relapse or show primary progressive disease after modern first-line therapy. The outcome of these patients is poor in particular if first-line therapy contained rituximab. Novel therapeutic approaches are urgently warranted. Thus, it is the goal to further improve progression-free Survival (PFS) and overall Survival (OS) by combining R-CHOP with copanlisib. Copanlisib is a small molecule pan-class 1 PI3K inhibitor and approved by US FDA for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.