Pathobiology of nodal peripheral T-cell lymphomas: current understanding and future directions

Chidamide in combination with azacitidine for an elderly patient with peripheral T cell lymphoma‑not otherwise specified: A case report

Peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) is a type of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with poor prognosis. PTCL-not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is one of its most common pathological types. PTCL is not sensitive to conventional chemotherapy regimens and treatment is particularly limited in elderly patients due to their poor tolerance to chemotherapy. The present report shares the treatment experience of one elderly PTCL-NOS case, which achieved complete remission by reduced-intensity chemotherapy with chidamide in combination with azacitidine following the onset of organ failure and chemotherapy insensitivity. The 9-month follow-up showed sustained remission and the long-term efficacy of this regimen is also promising.

Past, present and future therapeutic approaches in nodal peripheral T-cell lymphomas

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) encompass over 30 different entities and although they share post-thymic T- or NK-cell derivation, the disease biology and genomic landscape are very diverse across subtypes. In Western populations, nodal PTCL are the most frequently encountered entities in clinical practice and although important achievements have been made in deciphering the underlying biology and in therapeutic advances, there are still large gaps in disease understanding and clinical scenarios in which controversy over best practice continues. CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone)- based chemotherapy continues to be the 'standard' treatment, with the addition of brentuximab vedotin (BV) in the combination CHP (cyclosphosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone)-BV representing a new treatment paradigm in CD30+ PTCL although its benefit is less certain in the non-anaplastic large cell lymphoma subtypes. Given the high risk of relapse, consolidative autologous stem cell transplant is considered in nodal PTCL, outside of ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma; however, in the absence of a randomized controlled trials, practices vary. Beyond CHP-BV, most study activity has focused on adding a novel agent to CHOP (i.e., CHOP + drug X). However, with high complete remission rates observed with some novel therapy combinations, these regimens are being tested in the front-line setting, with a particular rationale in follicular helper T-cell lymphomas which have a clear sensitivity to epigenetic modifying therapies. This is well exemplified in the relapsed/refractory setting in which rational combination therapies are being developed for specific subtypes or guided by underlying biology. Taken together, we have finally moved into an era of a more personalized approach to the management of nodal PTCL.