Dr. Goy on Bortezomib in MCL Treatment

Andre Goy, MD, MS, chairman and director, chief of Lymphoma, and director of Clinical and Translational Cancer Research at John Theurer Cancer Center, discusses the history of bortezomib (Velcade) as a treatment for patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

The first novel agent approved by the FDA was bortezomib, which is defined as a biological targeted therapy in the form of a proteasome inhibitor, Goy explains. While this has since been combined with a number of other agents, bortezomib was investigated in a large randomized clinical trial in the frontline setting in transplant ineligible patients. They were randomized to receive standard R-CHOP versus R-CHOP with bortezomib instead of vincristine (Marqibo).

This showed a 60% improvement in progression-free survival and also a significant improvement in complete response, in favor of the regimen including bortezomib, he adds.