Dr. Wang on Research Trends in MCL

Michael Wang, MD, professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses research trends in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

The field of lymphoma as a whole has undergone a dramatic paradigm shift from the early days of chemotherapy to targeted therapy to immunotherapy, and now, to cellular therapy, says Wang. However, even cellular therapies are not curative. Instead of finding 1 curative therapy for all patients, Wang envisions the field will adopt precision medicine as a way to optimize patient care.

A critical component of this will be understanding individual mechanisms of resistance to treatment, explains Wang. This research will be particularly important in the relapsed/refractory setting among patients who have exhausted all available therapies. If researchers can determine the Achilles heel of the tumor, it can be targeted. MCL is a distinct type of B-cell lymphoma, in which investigators are actively exploring mechanisms of resistance to venetoclax (Venclexta) concludes Wang.