Traditional and emerging therapies for anaplastic large cell lymphoma (Review)

Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a rare and highly invasive non‑Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the past few decades, traditional chemotherapy regimens, such as as the cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and prednisone regimen, have been recommended for first‑line treatment. In order to improve the survival of patients, dose‑intensive chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have been deeply studied and some progress has been made. Recently, with the accumulation of clinical cases and the development of clinical trials, as well improvements to our in‑depth understanding of the biological behavior of ALCL, the signaling pathways and the immunotherapy involved, research on this topic is in full swing. The emergence of several targeted drugs and immunotherapies, including anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors, brentuximab vedotin, mTOR inhibitors, programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death ligand 1 inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor‑T cell therapy, seems to provide new opportunities for certain patients with ALCL. The present review focuses on the current use of traditional therapy and the treatment prospects of these new drugs in ALCL.