Dr. Ansell on Incorporating Immunotherapies Beyond CAR T-Cell Therapy in NHL

Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, chair of the Lymphoma Group at Mayo Clinic, discusses incorporating immunotherapies beyond CAR T-cell therapy in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Although CAR T-cell therapy is expensive and time consuming, the treatment is associated with high rates of durable responses, Ansell explains. As such, CAR T-cell therapy can elicit cures in a fraction of patients with NHL, Ansell adds. 

However, data with immunotherapies, such as tafasitamab-cxix (Monjuvi) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid), are also demonstrating high rates of long-term, durable remissions, Ansell explains. As such, the overall utility of novel immunotherapies remains an unanswered question in NHL, Ansell says. However, they might offer a more accessible and cheaper alternative to CAR T-cell therapy without compromising efficacy, Ansell concludes.