Dr. Goodman on the Role of PD-1 Inhibitors in T-Cell Lymphomas

Aaron Goodman, MD, hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, discusses the role of PD-1 inhibitors in T-cell lymphomas.

Initially, there was a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the use of PD-1 inhibitors in patients with T-cell lymphomas, but response rates have ranged from 10% to 30%, explains Goodman. Unlike other cancers, a protein on the T-cell lymphoma tumor must be targeted in order to activate it, thus releasing a natural break on the tumor cells. Several reports have cited hyperprogression in T-cell lymphomas treated with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo), which indicates that caution needs to be used with these agents, says Goodman.

With other targets, the new drug mogamulizumab-kpkc (Poteligeo) has been approved for use in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Mogamulizumab-kpkc is a monoclonal antibody that targets CCR4, which is found on regulatory T cells and malignant T cells, specifically in mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome, according to Goodman. The agent, when used as a monotherapy, has reasonable activity that can be durable in this patient population, concludes Goodman.