Tag Archive for: Tafasitamab

DLBCL Treatment Approaches for Newly Diagnosed and Relapsed/Refractory Patients

DLBCL Treatment Approaches for Newly Diagnosed and Relapsed/Refractory Patients from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What are current diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treatment approaches for newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory patients? Expert Dr. Amitkumar Mehta outlines treatment options, explains how treatments have evolved, and discusses patient monitoring following treatment completion.

Dr. Amitkumar Mehta is Director of the Lymphoma Program and CAR T Program and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. Learn more about Dr. Mehta.

See More from Thrive DLBCL

Related Resources:

An Expert’s Perspective on What it Means to Thrive With DLBCL

An Expert’s Perspective on What it Means to Thrive With DLBCL

How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making

How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making?

Tools for Setting DLBCL Treatment Goals

Tools for Setting DLBCL Treatment Goals

Transcript:

Katherine:

What treatment options are available for DLBCL patients?

Dr. Mehta:

So, it’s a very loaded question because, you know, front-line and relapse and field has evolved immensely over a period of years. But I’ll tell you that in a new diagnosis of DLBCL, still R-CHOP or R-EPOCH-based treatments are standard of care. We have – as a medical community, we have tried multiple times to improve upon the foundation of R-CHOP or R-EPOCH. But we have failed, unfortunately, that R-CHOP is still the best treatment.

There are multiple clinical trials, which are building on R-CHOP adding novel agents and see whether it gets better or not. So, therefore, when we discuss, we discuss always to ask about whether there is any clinical trial option. If the DLBCL comes back, which happens in about 30 to 40 percent of cases, there are so many treatment options.

There are novel options including bone marrow transplant. The CAR-T treatment, tafasitamab (Monjuvi), different CD19-directed therapies, or loncastuximab (Zynlonta) CD19-directed antibody drug conjugate. There are so many – polatuzumab (Polivy) – options available. Therefore, it is important to have a discussion with your provider that “Okay. Well, if it has come back, of course, it is disappointing. But what are my options, clinical trial options, novel therapeutic options,” so that we can work as a team with betterment and hoping to cure even if it has come back, a large cell lymphoma.

So, there are so many treatment options out there. I did not touch upon the clinical trial. There are so many clinical trials going on within amazing agents, which are very effective in DLBCL.

Katherine:

How are DLBCL patients monitored after treatment is completed?

Dr. Mehta:

Very importantly, if you go in remission and after the initial treatment or in a relapse setting, we have to keep an eye. And, of course, we want to detect if it comes earlier so that we can start the treatment earlier. Typically, in the beginning, in the initial two years, the follow-up could be closer, every four to six months we get together.

We have labs done. Sometimes we do scans, making sure that a lymphoma – there is no evidence of it coming back. So, the initial two to three years the follow could be closer. And then, as we space out, the follow spaces out further. And then, after you have a five-year mark where the lymphoma has not come back, the chance of it coming back goes further down. So, then I start follow-up annually on those patients. Yeah.

Emerging DLBCL Treatments That Patients Should Know About

Emerging DLBCL Treatments That Patients Should Know About from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Are there new diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treatment options? Dr. Kami Maddocks reviews developing research and approaches and what these advances could mean for patients.

Dr. Kami Maddocks is a hematologist who specializes in treating patients with B-cell malignancies at the The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James. Learn more about Dr. Maddocks.

See More From The Pro-Active DLBCL Patient Toolkit

Related Programs:

Is My DLBCL Treatment Working_ What Happens if It Doesn’t Work

Understanding DLBCL Treatment Classes

Understanding DLBCL Treatment Classes

A DLBCL Expert Debunks Common Patient Misconceptions


Transcript:

Katherine:

Have there been any recent developments in how DLBCL is treated?  

Dr. Maddocks:

There had been recent developments. So, the CAR T-cell therapy, there is now three approved options for patients. And so, even patients who maybe are older and not considered candidates for a stem cell transplant because of other medical factors, might be able to get the CAR T-cell therapy. This is now, again, approved in the second line. There are a couple antibody drug conjugates, polatuzumab and loncastuximab, they target proteins called CD-79 and CD-19.  

And the polatuzumab’s the one that probably is going to be available for part of the front-line treatment in the future. There’s the antibody tafasitamab and lenalidomide. These are all approved therapies in the relapse setting. There are also therapies that are being studied and showing promising activity, which we think are probably likely to be approved in the future. There’s something particularly called bi-specific antibodies.  

So, this targets a protein on the tumor cell but also a protein on the T cell. So, remember I said the T cells aren’t functioning. So, this targets the protein on the lymphoma cell but then targets a protein on the T cell to engage it to attack the lymphoma cell. 

Katherine:

Right. Combination approaches?   

Dr. Maddocks:

Yeah. So, there are a number of combination approaches under study a lot of the therapies that I mentioned, like the bi-specific antibodies, the antibody drug conjugates. These are all therapies that – they have side effects – I hate to say they’re well-tolerated – they have side effects but their side effects are such that they can be combined with other agents, that have different toxicities that are combined with each other. And so, there’s a lot of ongoing trials looking at combining these. There’re also oral targeted therapies that target proteins that are known to help the lymphoma cells survive and these are modulator therapies, BTK inhibitors, other inhibitors, that are being evaluated and used in combinations.  

Katherine:

Thanks, Dr. Maddocks. That’s really helpful information.