Summary
The standard of care is curative in the large majority of primary Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients and in approximately two-third of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients.1,2 Treatment strategies mainly consist of a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.2 However, a substantial number of patients will develop relapsed or refractory (R/R) disease with poor prognosis. These patients often receive additional chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation (SCT).2 During the annual European Hematology association (EHA) conference, outcomes of various treatment regimes in lymphoma patients were discussed. In recent years, new agents for treatment of lymphoma were developed, including promising antibody-drug conjugates and inhibitors against programmed death 1 (PD-1) signalling. Results of clinical trials with these agents were presented at the EHA. Thus far, current treatment schemes are mainly dependent on clinical risk factors. Unfortunately, these treatment regimens coincide with many side-effects that affect the quality of life and morbidity of patients. To this end, personalised treatment needs further implementation and predictive and prognostic factors that can define patient-specific optimal therapies are therefore needed. These are currently under investigation and were also discussed at EHA 2016.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2016;7(4):151–7)
