Dr. Martin on the Importance of Developing Novel Therapies in MCL

Peter Martin, MD, chief, the Lymphoma Program, Meyer Cancer Center, associate professor of medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the importance of developing novel therapies in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Significant advances have been made in the MCL paradigm over the past 5 years, including the July 2020 FDA approval of the CAR T-cell therapy brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) in the relapsed/refractory setting. Looking to the future, other CAR T-cell products, combination strategies with CAR T-cell therapy, and combination strategies with BTK inhibitors could expand upon the utility of established therapies in MCL, says Martin.

However, the development of novel therapies will be critical to further push the MCL paradigm forward, Martin explains. Historically, patients have benefitted more from novel agents, such as rituximab (Rituxan), bortezomib (Velcade), BTK inhibitors, and CAR T-cell therapy compared with refined strategies with existing chemotherapies, Martin says. As such, novel treatments, such as bispecific antibodies, hold significant promise, Martin says. However, because MCL is a rare malignancy, patient accrual to clinical trials and data generation may be delayed, concludes Martin.