Classic mantle cell lymphoma (cMCL) has long been treated as a uniformly aggressive disease in need of similarly aggressive treatment, but that approach may be leading to overtreatment, according to one expert.
“The cMCL encompasses a broad category of lymphomas with highly variable clinical behaviors. A contemporary categorization of cMCL as a predominantly aggressive entity is misleading, as only an estimated 20% to 25% of patients with cMCL present with a symptomatic or aggressively behaving disease,” Leonid L. Yavorkovsky, MD, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center (Calif.), wrote in a commentary in JAMA Oncology.
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While groups like the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the European Society for Medical Oncology recommend that only older patients and those with significant comorbidities should be exempted from intensive therapy, Dr. Yavorkovsky said to identify asymptomatic patients who might be able to safely delay aggressive treatment. He also called for more risk-adapted patient assignment to cMCL clinical trials.
“The failure to recognize the erratic nature of cMCL in clinical studies may confound the outcome gains and, ultimately, undermine the ensuing treatment recommendations,” Dr. Yavorkovsky wrote.
Read his full commentary in JAMA Oncology.
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
SOURCE: Yavorkovsky L, JAMA Oncology. 2018 Mar 1. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.5685.