Emerging immunotherapy and strategies directly targeting B cells for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract

During the last decade, significant prolonged survival in diffusive large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has been observed. The efficacy of initial treatment improved mostly due to addition of a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab) to standard chemotherapeutic regimens. Moreover, accurate understanding of DLBCL pathogenesis and remarkable progress in gene expression profiling have led to the development of a variety of tumor-specific regimens. Novel agents target directly the pathways involved in signal transduction, lead to apoptosis and cancer cells differentiation. In this article, we mainly focus on new treatment options, such as monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs, currently investigated in aggressive B-cell lymphoma with particular attention to DLBCL type.