Dr. Zelenetz on Progress Made in MCL Treatment

Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, medical director of Quality Informatics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses progress made in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) treatment.

MCL is a relatively rare disease, says Zelenetz. The typical oncologist in the United States who specializes in lymphoma will see a new diagnosis of MCL every 1 to 2 years; it is an uncommon disease with only about 4,000 cases per year reported in the United States. As a result, advances in lymphoma treatment have lagged behind that of other cancers.

However, important drugs have been approved in this space, Zelenetz adds. Several years ago, bortezomib (Velcade) was approved for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory MCL. The agent has activity, but because of the treatment-emergent neuropathy that has been reported, it is not widely used. Lenalidomide (Revlimid) also received regulatory approval for use in these patients, and when used in combination with rituximab (Rituxan), it is highly active, concludes Zelenetz.