Dr. Ansell on Recent Therapeutic Advancements in MCL

Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, discusses some of the recent therapeutic advancements that have been reported in the field of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

MCL is a disease that is moving and changing rapidly, Ansell explains. Some of the more standard approaches, he adds, are now being challenged by novel combinations and therapies. Previously, physicians took the approach that patients who were young and healthy were given a more aggressive chemotherapy treatment followed by stem cell transplantation, whereas elderly patients were treated with a more palliative regimen.

However, some of these newer agents, such as lenalidomide (Revlimid) and ibrutinib (Imbruvica), in combination with antibodies have resulted in excellent results. For the future, Ansell says the community will begin to see some of these new combinations being tested against more of the standard therapies. This will lead to a more sophisticated and nuanced treatment, rather than a very aggressive, nonpersonalized approach.