Dr. Fenske Discusses Ongoing Study in Frontline MCL

Timothy Fenske, MD, MS, associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses an ongoing study in the frontline treatment of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin are participating in an ECOG-led study using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) minimal residual disease (MRD) assay that measures levels of circulating tumor DNA. The hypothesis, Fenske says, is that not all patients with MCL will benefit from an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) in first response.

In the study, patients are treated with physician’s choice of induction therapy, and then they are assessed by PET scan, bone marrow, and the NGS test. Only the patients in complete remission and an MRD-negative state will then be randomized to undergo either immediate ASCT followed by maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) or deferral of ASCT and just rituximab. Researchers are evaluating if being MRD-negative means patients can forego an ASCT.