Investigational drugs for T-cell lymphoma

Updates in the Treatment of Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomas

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) represent a heterogeneous group of rare hematologic malignancies accounting for less than 10% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The 2016 classification of World Health Organization recognized 29 different entities of PTCLs. These subgroups are characterized by different molecular and genetic patterns. For nearly 30 years, little improvement in the treatment of PTCLs has been noticed due to the paucity of randomized trials and anthracycline-based chemotherapy remains the mainstay of first-line treatment. In front-line setting, ECHELON-2, the first randomized controlled Phase III clinical trial, recently met its primary endpoint of PFS demonstrating the superiority of BV containing regimen when compared to standard CHOP in patients with CD30 positive PTCLs. The role of therapeutic intensifications such as autologous or allogenic stem cell transplantations remains controversial in first-line setting and in relapsed/refractory disease due to the lack of studies clearly addressing this question and the recently published negative studies. PTCLs are often refractory to first-line chemotherapy and tend to relapse after an initial response. New agents have been approved for relapsed/refractory disease such as Histone deacetylase inhibitors, folate analogue metabolic inhibitor or CD30 antibody drug conjugated. Despite an acceptable response to these agents, progression-free survival remains very poor. New strategies such as combinations of different agents have been evaluated in order to improve outcomes. Innovative drugs in the fields of epigenetics, immunomodulation within the tumor microenvironment, and direct targeting of tumor cells to CD30 and T-cell receptor abnormalities open new perspectives to improve the treatment of PTCLs.