CONSENSUS PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS; EXTENDED RITUXIMAB THERAPY; 2ND INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP; LYMPHOPLASMACYTIC LYMPHOMA; RANDOMIZED-TRIAL; MANAGEMENT; SURVIVAL; BENDAMUSTINE; RISK; DIAGNOSIS

Background Treatment options for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia are heterogeneous, and no well established treatment standards exist. Although guidelines from the Eighth International Workshop on Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia were published in 2016, inconsistent awareness and budget constraints have prevented their widespread implementation, and real-life treatment patterns might differ across health-care systems. We aimed to generate information about treatment and outcome patterns for patients with Waldenstrm's macroglobulinaemia outside of clinical trials. Methods In this large, observational, retrospective chart review, academic and community physicians in ten European countries were invited to retrospectively complete electronic records for patients with symptomatic Waldenstrm's macroglobulinaemia who had begun treatment after Jan 1, 2000, and before Jan 1, 2014, and had available clinical and biological data. The primary endpoints were reasons for treatment initiation, treatment choices, progression-free survival, and overall survival. We assessed the variables that affected choice of front-line therapy, progression-free survival, and overall survival in multivariate analyses. F