Treatment challenges in the management of relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - Novel and emerging therapies

Abstract

Over the last few decades, advances in immunochemotherapy have led to dramatic improvement in the prognosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Despite these advances, relapsed and refractory disease represents a major treatment challenge. For both aggressive and indolent subtypes of NHL, there is no standard of care for salvage regimens, with prognosis after relapse remaining relatively poor. Nevertheless, there are multiple emerging classes of targeted therapies for relapsed/refractory disease, including monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, radioimmunotherapy, small-molecule inhibitors of cell-growth pathways, and novel chemotherapy agents. This review will discuss treatment challenges of NHL, current available salvage regimens for relapsed/refractory NHL, and the safety and efficacy of novel emerging therapies. © 2013 Chao, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd.