Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, professor, internal medicine, chief, Division of Oncology & Hematology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, discusses the importance of genomic analysis in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Combinations of novel drugs in lymphomas have the potential to overcome resistance to therapy but come with sometimes unexpected adverse events that demand careful monitoring.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies have quickly moved from early phase clinical trials to FDA approval for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with research now exploring ways to shift these agents earlier in the treatment paradigm.

Combining ibrutinib with standard R-CHOP did not improve event-free survival versus R-CHOP alone in the first-line setting for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Ian Flinn, MD, director of the Blood Cancer Research Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Progression-free survival appears to be a surrogate endpoint for overall survival in patients undergoing first-line treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, according to results from a large pooled analysis.

Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, clinical director, Center for Lymphoma, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses lisocabtagene maraleucel (JCAR017; liso-cel) as a treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Combining pixantrone (Pixuvri) with rituximab (Rituxan) failed to improve progression-free survival compared with gemcitabine plus rituximab in patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The European Medicines Agency’s CHMP has recommended approval of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) as a treatment for adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended approval of tisagenlecleucel for the treatment of either 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.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a supplemental new drug application for ibrutinib for use in combination with rituximab as a treatment option across all lines of therapy for patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

Toby Eyre, MBChB, MRCP, discusses the results of the phase I study with venetoclax in patients with poor-risk relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

Antibody-drug conjugates represent a targeted class of agents with an improved therapeutic index over traditional chemotherapy in the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

At a median follow-up of 14.1 months, the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel achieved an objective response rate of 52% in adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The addition of polatuzumab vedotin to bendamustine and rituximab induced a higher rate of complete responses by PET scan compared with BR alone in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The combination of obinutuzumab and chlorambucil reduced the risk of death by 24% versus rituximab plus chlorambucil in treatment-naïve patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with comorbidities.

Ian Flinn, MD, PhD, discusses the activity and tolerability of 5F9 with rituximab in relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as well as intriguing findings with ibrutinib/venetoclax in frontline chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel (JCAR017; liso-cel) is showing promising response rates in patients with high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

CMS has proposed a different way to handle payment for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, one that the medical and manufacturing community thinks is unworkable.

Ian Flinn, MD, director of the Blood Cancer Research Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses Hu5F9-G4 (5F9) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Jeremy Slade Abramson, MD, clinical director, Center for Lymphoma, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the updated results of the TRANSCEND study in patients with relapsed/refractory b-cell lymphomas.

Several studies presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting helped further refine and inform treatment strategies for the budding class of CAR T-cell therapies, with a focus on predicting adverse events and optimizing efficacy.

Similar efficacy with the combination of rituximab and lenalidomide coupled with a better safety profile compared with rituximab plus chemotherapy may make the chemo-free regimen a new frontline option for patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma.

Adding ibrutinib to rituximab lowered the risk of disease progression or death by 80% versus rituximab alone in patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

Adding ofatumumab (Arzerra) to bendamustine (Treanda) failed to improve progression-free survival in patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who did not respond to rituximab (Rituxan) monotherapy.