Background Rituximab (R) plus chemotherapy, most frequently the combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) or bendamustine (B), is the standard of first-line treatment for patients with follicular lymphoma.

Purpose The objective was to carry out a descriptive analysis of the use of R-CHOP and R-B in a hospital of the third level of care.

Material and methods Descriptive study, which included patients with LF who were treated with R-CHOP or R-B as the first line of treatment between 2015 and 2018.

We made a retrospective data collection through computerised medical records (Selene).

The main variables of the study were the appearance of the event, which was defined as progression or toxicity, and the classification of the patients according to the FLIPI criteria before starting the treatment.

A descriptive analysis was carried out where the qualitative variables were expressed as a percentage and the numerical variables as mean ±standard deviation (SD).

The analyses were carried out through the statistical program SPSS/PC (version 24.0 for Windows, SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL).

Results The study included 49 patients diagnosed with follicular lymphoma between 2015 and 2018. Fifty-nine per centwere women and the mean age was 65±12 years. The average weight was 76±20 kg, the average size was 164±10 cm and the average body surface area was 1.80±0.22 m². Sixty-five per centof the patients were treated with R-B and the rest with R-CHOP. Sixty-one per cent were treated by the medical oncology service and the rest by clinical haematology. Forty-four per cent had an intermediate-low FLIPI and the rest high FLIPI. The event was presented in six patients, of which four were classified with high FLIPI. Of the six patients who presented with the event, there were four deaths, of which all had high FLIPI. Half of the events occurred in patients treated with R-CHOP and the other half in patients treated with R-B and the same as occurred with death.

Conclusion The number of events was higher in those patients who had high FLIPI. In addition, of the four deceased, all had high FLIPI. Both events and death occurred in the same proportion regardless of the treatment used. There is a tendency to present the event in patients with high FLIPI but that it does not depend on the treatment.

References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.