15-Year SWOG S0016 Trial: Follicular Lymphoma Curable

New analysis suggests many advanced-stage follicular lymphoma patients can now be considered cured.

Published on Feb. 27, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

A new analysis of long-term data from the SWOG S0016 clinical trial suggests that a substantial subset of advanced-stage follicular lymphoma patients treated with standard chemoimmunotherapy regimens can now be considered cured. The analysis found that 70% of patients remained alive 15 years after starting treatment, and a statistical cure modeling method estimated that 42% of treated patients had been functionally cured.

Why it matters

This finding represents a paradigm shift in the understanding and approach to follicular lymphoma, with broad implications for how newly diagnosed patients are counseled and the potential to eliminate the need for indefinite oncology and radiologic follow-up visits after treatment.

The details

The JAMA Oncology paper reports on an analysis of 15-year follow-up data from the SWOG S0016 clinical trial, which enrolled 531 patients with untreated advanced-stage CD20-positive follicular lymphoma and randomized them to receive either rituximab plus CHOP chemotherapy (R-CHOP) or CHOP followed by radioimmunotherapy (CHOP-RIT). The analysis found that the rate of disease relapse dropped substantially over time, falling from 6.8% of patients relapsing in the first 5 years to only 0.6% relapsing between years 15 and 20. The cure modeling estimated that 42% of treated patients had been functionally cured.

  • The S0016 clinical trial opened in 2001.
  • The primary results of the S0016 trial were published in 2013.
  • The median follow-up time for the analysis was 15.5 years after patients began treatment.

The players

Jonathan W. Friedberg

Senior and corresponding author on the paper, director of the Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Michael LeBlanc

Biostatistician at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and director of SWOG's Statistics and Data Management Center, who conducted the cure modeling analysis.

Mazyar Shadman

First author on the paper, medical director of cellular immunotherapy at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, where he holds the Innovators Network Endowed Chair.

SWOG Cancer Research Network

A clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, that conducted the S0016 trial.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Part of the National Institutes of Health, which funded the SWOG S0016 clinical trial.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“A subset of advanced-stage follicular lymphoma patients can achieve cure with CHOP-based chemoimmunotherapy, as relapse rates decline over time.”

— Jonathan W. Friedberg, Director, Wilmot Cancer Institute (JAMA Oncology)

“These results reinforce that front-line chemoimmunotherapy remains an important option—particularly for appropriate patients—because it can deliver long-term disease control after a time-limited course of treatment.”

— Mazyar Shadman, Medical Director of Cellular Immunotherapy, Fred Hutch Cancer Center (JAMA Oncology)

What’s next

As new treatments are brought into the first-line setting for follicular lymphoma, the long-term remission and cure potential seen in this study will serve as a high benchmark for any new strategies to aim to match or exceed.

The takeaway

This study represents a significant shift in the understanding of follicular lymphoma, suggesting that a substantial subset of patients with advanced-stage disease can achieve functional cure with standard chemoimmunotherapy regimens. This could lead to changes in how newly diagnosed patients are counseled and potentially eliminate the need for indefinite follow-up visits after treatment.