ASH 2018—aggressive lymphoma

At the American Society of Hematology Meeting (ASH) 2018 promising data were presented reflecting the impressing advances of clinical research in aggressive lymphoma. Besides promising and partially practice-changing therapies in first-line treatment, there was a focus on Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CART) therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL): longer follow-up, real world data and new developments were reported. A bit overshadowed by CART therapy hype promising data for adding venetoclax to chemoimmuntherapy, bispecific antibodies, antibody drug conjugates and new monoclonal antibodies were presented. Important data to detect patients at high risk for R/CHOP (Rituximab/Cyclophospamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, Prednisone) failure and to detect possible targets for this high-risk subgroup were shown. The focus of phase III studies in the future should be on this high-risk population as the next phase III trial—the PHOENIX study adding ibrutinib to R/CHOP in non GCB DLBCL—failed to improve standard first-line therapy with R/CHOP.