Dr. Kahl on Treatment Strategies for Indolent Lymphoma

Brad Kahl, MD, professor of medicine, Division of Oncology, Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, discusses treatment strategies for patients with indolent lymphoma.

When treating patients with indolent lymphoma, the first consideration is to determine whether the patient requires immediate treatment, says Kahl. For example, patients who are asymptomatic with low tumor burden can be observed until they develop symptoms or high tumor burden.

If patients require treatment due to symptoms or high tumor burden, the most commonly used regimen in the United States is bendamustine plus rituximab (Rituxan), which is safe, well-tolerated, and very effective, according to Kahl. However, some older patients may struggle with that regimen; as such, they might be better served by a gentler approach, such as single-agent rituximab. Additionally, younger patients with aggressive disease would be better served with R-CHOP, concludes Kahl.