Optimizing First-Line Therapy for Follicular Lymphoma: Is It Time for Chemotherapy-Free Approaches?

Over the past several decades, tremendous progress has been made in the treatment of follicular lymphoma. The addition of rituximab to chemotherapy led to significant improvements in survival in the 1990s. Current standard of care in advanced-stage, previously untreated follicular lymphoma is rituximab plus chemotherapy, sometimes followed by rituximab maintenance. Now, as more research is conducted in the field of chemotherapy-free treatment, Dr. Richard I. Fisher discussed the importance of carefully constructed phase II or III trials at the NCCN 2019 Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies. He maintained that a nonchemotherapy treatment regimen comprising rituximab + lenalidomide can be considered in carefully selected patients, and that it is currently the only chemotherapy-free treatment that should be recommended.