OUTLINE:~Patients receive etoposide, doxorubicin, and vincristine intravenously (IV) continuously over 96 hours on days 1-4 of each cycle, cyclophosphamide IV over 1 hour on day 5 of each cycle, prednisone orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-5 of each cycle, and tafasitamab IV weekly on days 1, 8, and 15 of each cycle. CD20 positive patients also receive rituximab IV per guidelines on days 1 or 5 of each cycle. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 8 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.~After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for 2 years and every 6 months for 3 years (total follow-up time 5 years).
This phase II clinical trial tests a chemotherapy regimen (dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin with or without rituximab [DA-EPOCH+/-R]) with the addition of targeted therapy (tafasitamab) for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome negative (Ph-) B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Chemotherapy drugs, such as those in EPOCH+/-R, 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. Tafasitamab is in a class of medications called monoclonal antibodies. It works by helping the body to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells. Adding tafasitamab to the DA-EPOCH+/-R regimen may work better than DA-EPOCH+/-R alone in treating newly diagnosed Ph- B-ALL.