Dr. Flinn on the Utility of Tafasitamab in Relapsed/Refractory DLBCL

Ian W. Flinn, MD, PhD, director of Lymphoma Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, and the director for the Sarah Cannon Center for Blood Cancer at Tennessee Oncology and TriStar Centennial Medical Center, discusses the utility of tafasitamab (MOR208) in patients with relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Tafasitamab would be considered for any patient with DLBCL who has relapsed and is not suitable for other therapies, says Flinn.

CAR T-cell therapy is a very aggressive treatment option; to receive CAR T cells, patients must be almost as fit as they would need to be to undergo a stem cell transplant. The same almost holds true for patients to receive polatuzumab vedotin (Polivy), which is usually given in combination with bendamustine and rituximab (Rituxan), adds Flinn. In order to be a candidate to receive that combination, patients must have a good hematologic function.

For some patients,that is not a realistic scenario. For example, they could have cytopenias or have previously received multiple chemotherapies, and giving more chemotherapy is not an appropriate approach for them, says Flinn.

As such, tafasitamab, in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid), is a very appropriate treatment option for that group of patients, concludes Flinn.