Lymphoma Research Results and Study Updates

Based on an NCI-sponsored clinical trial conducted by the Children’s Oncology Group, FDA has approved the drug brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in combination with chemotherapy for some children and adolescents with Hodgkin lymphoma.

Results from three clinical trials have found that CAR T cells may be superior to standard treatments for patients with B-cell NHL that has not responded to treatment (refractory) or has returned after treatment (relapsed).

NCI researchers have found that adding the targeted therapy ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to standard chemotherapy can improve how long some younger people with a specific form of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma live. The new findings come from a new analysis of a previously conducted phase 3 clinical trial called Phoenix.

People with blood cancers seem to be less protected by COVID-19 vaccines than those with other cancers and people without cancer, three new studies suggest. Experts believe this limited effectiveness is likely due to patients’ weakened immune systems.

In a recent study, a treatment regimen using brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) instead of the chemotherapy drug vincristine allowed some children and teens with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma to avoid radiation therapy—and the long-term health problems that can come with it.

A CAR T-cell therapy called brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for some patients with mantle cell lymphoma. This is the third CAR T-cell therapy approved by FDA for patients with cancer.

For children with aggressive Burkitt lymphoma and other B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, adding rituximab (Rituxan, Truxima) to chemotherapy substantially increases the likelihood of the child being cured, results from a large clinical trial show.

In an NCI study, an alternative treatment regimen called dose-adjusted EPOCH-R that is less toxic than standard dose-intensive chemotherapy was highly effective for adults with Burkitt lymphoma across all age groups and independent of HIV status.

A remodeled CAR T-cell therapy causes fewer neurologic side effects and is equally effective as the original form of the treatment, according to results from the first clinical trial testing the approach in patients with B-cell lymphomas.

In some people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), treating a single tumor with an in situ vaccine can help to shrink, or eliminate, tumors in other parts of the body, findings from a small clinical trial suggest.

In a small trial involving patients with slow-growing B-cell lymphoma, injecting the compound SD-101 directly into tumors (in situ vaccination) and giving low-dose radiation shrank the injected tumors and, frequently, tumors elsewhere in the body.

FDA has approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for some women with advanced cervical cancer and some patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

FDA has approved tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) for certain kinds of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Read about the trial that led to the approval and what the approval means for people with lymphoma.

The FDA has expanded the approved uses of brentuximab (Adcetris) in people with Hodgkin lymphoma. Under the new approval, brentuximab can be used in combination with three other chemotherapy drugs as an initial treatment in patients with advanced disease.

In a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, NCI researchers identified genetic subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common type of lymphoma, that could help explain why some patients with the disease respond to treatment and others don’t.

Some people who have been treated for breast cancer or lymphoma have a higher risk of developing congestive heart failure than people who haven’t had cancer, results from a new study show.

FDA has approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris®) for the treatment of adults who have been treated previously for either primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma or CD30-expressing mycosis fungoides, two rare lymphomas that start as rashes on the skin.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to acalabrutinib (Calquence®) for the treatment of adults with mantle cell lymphoma whose cancer has progressed after receiving at least one prior therapy.

One month after approving the first CAR T-cell therapy for cancer, FDA has approved a second such therapy. The treatment, axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta™), was approved for some patients with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

FDA has granted accelerated approval to copanlisib (Aliqopa®) for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma, a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The FDA has approved a new formulation of rituximab, Rituxan Hycela, that reduces treatment administration time for patients with several types of blood cancer.

The FDA approved pembrolizumab for the treatment of some adult and pediatric patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

A blog post on the FDA approval of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab for the treatment of some patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

NCI researchers have identified new therapeutic targets for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Drugs that hit these targets are under clinical development and the researchers hope to begin testing them in clinical trials of patients with DLBCL.