Dr. Smith on the Guiding Principles for Treating iNHL

Sonali M. Smith, MD, Elwood V. Jensen Professor in Medicine, director, Lymphoma Program, University of Chicago Medicine, discusses the prognosis of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (iNHLs).

Patients with iNHL can be categorized to different subsets of the disease, such as follicular lymphoma, Smith says. For treatment, there are guiding principles physicians can use to help select the appropriate treatment for each patient.

It is important to remember these are chronic malignancies, so patients can live for a very long time. With the long-term expected survival, Smith says it is important to think of both the short-term and long-term side effects of treatment for patients with iNHL. An important principle is that treating patients before they need therapy, however, does not help patients live longer or better, according to the data we have to date, Smith says.