Therapies Still Needed to Help Individualize Care for Patients With DLBCL

Jason Westin, MD, director of Lymphoma Clinical Research in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, section chief of Aggressive Lymphoma in Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, and associate professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses unmet clinical needs in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) landscape. 

According to Westin, the majority of the need lies in more personalized therapy options for patients who do not achieve remission with rituximab (Rituxan) cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine sulfate, and prednisone (R-CHOP). A more personalized approach is needed, along with more precision medicine. This is especially needed now for patients who do not respond to R-CHOP, but in the long run for all patients.

0:08 | The needs that are still unmet are finding more personalized therapies, specifically for those patients who are not cured with R-CHOP. But I would argue even in those patients who are currently cured with R-CHOP, that we don't want to use 1970s, chemotherapy in 2050. We want to be able to have personalized approaches and be able to move beyond effectively sledgehammer kind of blunt force instruments and use more precision medicine. So, we clearly need to do better urgently for the folks who are currently resistant or not responsive to chemotherapy. But I'd argue in the long run we need to do better across the board.