Drug Treatment Study for High Grade B-Cell Lymphomas

This phase II/III trial tests whether it is possible to decrease the chance of high-grade B-cell lymphomas returning or getting worse by adding a new drug, venetoclax to the usual combination of drugs used for treatment. Venetoclax may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking a protein called Bcl-2. Drugs used in usual chemotherapy, such as rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, and etoposide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving venetoclax together with usual chemotherapy may work better than usual chemotherapy alone in treating patients with high-grade B-cell lymphomas, and may increase the chance of cancer going into remission and not returning.

In order to participate you must meet the following criteria:

• Have pathologic diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) or high grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBCL).
• Have had no prior treatment for DLBCL/HGBCL with the exception of corticosteroids administered for palliation, or a single cycle of either rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) or dose adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and rituximab (DA-EPOCH-R) administered prior to enrollment.
• Have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of 0-2.
• Are not pregnant and are not nursing, because this study involves an investigational agent whose genotoxic, mutagenic and teratogenic effects on the developing fetus and newborn are unknown.

This is a partial list of inclusion and exclusion criteria.