Dr. Smith on Emerging Therapies in Indolent Lymphoma

Mitchell R. Smith, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, George Washington University, associate center director for clinical investigations, Division of Hematology and Oncology, GW Cancer Center, discusses emerging therapeutic approaches in indolent lymphoma.

Indolent lymphoma is an incurable cancer and is often treated by the “watch and wait” approach, says Smith.

Although immunotherapy has not shown considerable efficacy in indolent lymphoma, CAR T-cell therapy and antibody-drug conjugates are cause for excitement. Smith also highlights radioimmunotherapy, an area that he says has been overlooked but should be further explored. According to Smith, combination therapy is on the horizon. For example, drugs that inhibit B-cell proliferation combined with venetoclax (Venclexta), which promotes apoptosis, also have potential.

Moving forward, the field will have to learn how to integrate currenttreatment paradigms with these new agents. This may shed light on the optimal time to stop treatment in this patient population which remains an unanswered question in the field, says Smith.