Cellular and immunologic therapies including CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs) have contributed to “spectacular” progress in the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), write the authors of a review article published in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia in September.

“The optimal sequencing and combination of cellular and immunotherapies will pose a major challenge in the next 5 years,” Mendel Goldfinger, MD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Dennis L. Cooper, MD, of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, write. 

They predict, however, that more widespread use of these treatment modalities “is expected to result in a significant decline in the use of chemotherapy.”

The authors further predict that circulating tumor DNA “will evolve from ‘proof of principal’ to clinically useful in identifying patients unlikely to be cured with their current treatment so that they can be transitioned to a different therapy before gross clinical progression.”

• Goldfinger M, Cooper DL. Refractory DLBCL: Challenges and Treatment. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2021 Sept 20; S2152-2650(21)02041-3. doi: 10.1016/j.clml.2021.09.011. Online ahead of print.

Tags: transplantation, DLBCL, CAR T, Lymphoma, cell therapy, RR, B-cell, CAR T-Cell Therapy, CAR T-cell, spectacular, progress