Dr. John Leonard Discusses New Treatments for Follicular Lymphoma

OncLive recently reported on a presentation made by Lymphoma Program Director, Dr. John Leonard at the 2016 International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies on novel treatments that could improve the long term survival of patients with follicular lymphoma. In introducing this topic he noted,

“Most patients will not die from follicular lymphoma, and that’s very reassuring. About 80% of patients will die with their follicular lymphoma and not of their follicular lymphoma…That really tells you something. If 80% of patients are not going to die from their disease, we can make a patient feel a lot better and can guide how we treat the patient.”

The article than summarizes Dr. Leonard’s discussion of these potential new treatments. Some of these treatments for follicular lymphoma are currently being investigated in clinical trials at Weill Cornell Medicine. If you are interested in a trial for follicular lymphoma, please look to our Joint Clinical Trials listings.

FDA Alert on Idelalisib in Combination with other Cancer Treatments

On March 14, three days after a similar announcement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert to healthcare professionals concerning the use of idelalisib (Zydelig) in combination with other cancer treatments. Following reports of increased adverse events including deaths linked to idelalisib during clinical trials, Gilead Sciences, stopped six clinical trials for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL), and indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Idelalisib is currently approved for use in relapsed CLL, in combination with rituximab, in patients for whom rituximab alone would be considered appropriate therapy due to other co-morbidities, relapsed follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies, and relapsed SLL in patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies. These approvals were based on phase 2 and phase 3 studies that had demonstrated significant evidence of benefit relative to standard therapies. The recent FDA/EMA announcements have not commented on the approved indications for idelalisib.

Doctors at Weill Cornell Medicine take patient safety very seriously. Patients currently taking idelalisib are encouraged to discuss any concerns they may have with their physician.

Dr. Peter Martin On Future Treatment Options for Mantle Cell Lymphoma

In this video from OncLive, Dr. Peter Martin discusses potential changes in the future treatment of younger patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), as well as new lines of therapy currently being developed for all patients with MCL. These new therapies include Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors, PI3 kinase inhibitors, Bcl-2 inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, and immunotherapy agents.

In the Lymphoma Program our patient care is informed by our clinical research. A full listing of available trials for MCL can be found on our clinical trials website.