Real-world Data: MCL2 Protocol Demonstrates Excellent Treatment Results Among Patients With Mantle Cell Lymphoma Not Fulfilling the Original Trial Inclusion Criteria

M antle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a rare and heterogeneous subgroup of B-cell lymphomas. The clinical course of MCL varies from an indolent form to an extremely aggressive phenotype. MCL is still an incurable disease. However, intensified chemoimmunotherapy regimens and targeted therapies have increased the overall survival (OS) of patients <65 years old from 5.6 years to 8.9 years. 1 Today, the standard treatment for fit patients <65–70 years is high-dose cytarabine-containing immunochemotherapy regimens followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). 2 The MCL2 protocol developed by the Nordic Lymphoma Group is one of these approaches. 3,4 The MCL2 protocol has shown a median OS of 12.7 years at the 15-year follow-up and a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 8.5 years. 4 Similar results have been obtained in other high-dose regimen trials. 5–7 This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the MCL2 protocol in a population-based retrospective analysis and to compare treatment results in patients fulfilling the trial eligibility criteria with those who would have been trial ineligible. We collected data on patients diagnosed with MCL from 7 hospitals in Finland and 1 hospital