LYMPHOMAS

Combinations of novel drugs used for treating patients with lymphomas may have the potential to improve responses and overcome resistance to therapy but can be accompanied by unexpected adverse events that demand careful monitoring, Kieron Dunleavy, MD, cautioned during the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.

Quick progress was seen with a novel class of agents, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, in the setting of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—a swift jump from early phase clinical trials to FDA-approved products.

Despite decades of drug development and a deepening understanding of the biology of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, physicians haven’t seen much improvement in cure rates, Thomas E. Witzig, MD, said during a presentation at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) has been approved by the European Commission as a treatment for adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, following at least 2 lines of systemic therapy. 

Second-Line Therapy in Extranodal Marginal Zone Lymphoma

Tisagenlecleucel has gained approval from the European Commission as a treatment for adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that is relapsed or refractory after 2 or more lines of systemic therapy, or patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is refractory, in relapse posttransplant, or in second or later relapse.

Perspective on Treating Advanced Marginal Zone Lymphoma

During a presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research’s inaugural Advances in Malignant Lymphoma meeting, Mehta-Shah, associate professor in the Department of Medicine with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, presented preliminary data showing how new pathway-dependent strategies using novel agent combinations may represent a new way to treat patients with T-cell lymphomas.

Targeting EZH2, the catalytic subunit of the multiprotein PRC2, may represent an attractive therapeutic objective in malignant lymphoma, Vincent Ribrag, MD, told his audience at the American Association for Cancer Research’s inaugural Advances in Malignant Lymphoma meeting.

Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, Chief in the Division of Oncology/Hematology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, discusses strategies for overcoming resistance in lymphoma during the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.