Management of mantle cell lymphoma: key challenges and next steps

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is regarded as an aggressive lymphoid malignancy that exhibits varied clinical behavior and prognoses, reflecting the biologic heterogeneity of the disease. In most cases, patients with MCL achieve a shorter median survival compared with more common B-cell lymphomas, such as follicular lymphoma, and are less likely to achieve a durable response with chemotherapy. Currently, there is no defined standard of care for patients with MCL. Rituximab-containing immunochemotherapy strategies are commonly used, but the addition of rituximab to conventional induction chemotherapy has produced suboptimal responses that are relatively short-lived and have not resulted in a survival advantage. Further intensification of the chemotherapy component, including autologous stem cell transplantation, has increased response and survival rates but has not proven to be curative while being associated with higher toxicity. Clearly, there is a need for developing novel agents and strategies that will improve clinical outcomes for patients with MCL. Targeted therapies and new cytotoxic agents are showing great promise and may have a role in maintenance and/or initial therapy. This summary highlights current challenges in the management of MCL, and outlines expert perspectives, key questions, and future directions. For the third consecutive year, a panel of global experts in MCL assembled to deliberate on topical issues in MCL including advances in pathobiology, strategies for risk-adapted therapy, front-line treatment options, consolidation approaches, and novel therapeutic strategies. The proceedings of this workshop, held December 3, 2009 in New Orleans, LA, are summarized here. It must be emphasized that this synopsis is not meant to serve as an exhaustive review of MCL biology and management, but is a distillation of the expert discussions, highlighting key questions and future directions identified.