What is Follicular Lymphoma and Why Are Better Treatments Needed?

There have been a number of advancements in the treatment of follicular lymphoma in 2024.

In March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) plus Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who had undergone two or more prior lines of systemic therapy. This approval was followed in May by the FDA’s approval of Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who had previously been treated with two or more lines of therapy and in June by the agency’s granting of an accelerated approval to Epkinly (epcoritamab-bysp) for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who have been previously treated with two or more lines of systemic therapy.

Additionally, Monjuvi (tafasitamab) has been shown to have positive results regarding disease progression for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, with Monjuvi manufacturer Incyte announcing in August that it plans to file a supplemental Biologics License Application with the FDA for Monjuvi to treat patients with follicular lymphoma who previously underwent at least one previous systemic anti-CD20 immunotherapy or chemo-immunotherapy.

During the 2024 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, CURE® spoke with Dr. Christina Poh, a physician at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and an assistant professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine about follicular lymphoma and the need for better treatments.

Transcript:

The nature of follicular lymphoma lies in the underlying pathogenesis. Essentially, this is a disease that is generally indolent, so it's generally slow growing, waxing and waning, but currently with our available therapies, it's still considered incurable, and so especially for our patients who are diagnosed at a younger age, there is a need for better therapies, or more therapies that will essentially prolong, that will help get the disease under control and actually control the disease for a long time. Ideally, we want this condition, obviously, to be curable. We want to be able to cure this, but I think at the end of the day, we want to make sure that this does not harm our patients or cause complications with their daily life.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.