Study summary

Adding ibrutinib to first treatment worked so well that a stem-cell transplant added nothing

TRIANGLE trial · 870 people, phase 3 · Published May 2026, The Lancet

What was tested

Ibrutinib, a BTK inhibitor pill, added to intensive chemo-immunotherapy, with or without an autologous stem-cell transplant, against standard chemo-immunotherapy plus transplant, for adults 65 or younger with untreated mantle cell lymphoma.

What they found

• 4-year failure-free survival was 81% with ibrutinib and no transplant vs 70% with standard treatment plus transplant.
• Adding transplant on top of ibrutinib did not improve results further (82% vs 81%).
• 4-year survival was 90% without transplant vs 81% with the standard approach.

What it means

Lets many younger people skip a stem-cell transplant and its side effects.