New developments in the treatment of follicular lymphoma/ marginal zone lymphoma (according to the Congress of the American Society of Hematology – 2020)

Relevance. Follicular lymphoma (FL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) are the most common variants of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL). Despite the adequate choice of the first-line therapy, 10 – 15% of affected patients with iNHL develop refractory disease, and in most of the cases the relapse of the disease among the others patients is detected, and each subsequent remission is shorter than the previous. According to the data of the National LymphoCare Study Group, the relapses that can occur during the first 2 years (POD24) after the beginning of the first-line therapy with R-CHOP in patients with FL, as well as with MZL, have a negative impact on the prognosis: 5-year overall survival in these patients decreases from 90 to 50%. The arsenal of therapy options is actively expanding along with a deep understanding of the biological basis of the disease development. At present, the most topical problem remains the choice of the best approach for each patient – the personalization of the therapy. The review includes the data from clinical trials concerning FL and MZL treatment presented at the Congress of the American Society of Hematology in 2020. There are a large number of studies concerning new anticancer drugs in the world, such as monoclonal antibodies to different targets on the surface of B-cells, macrophages, bispecific antibodies, antibody conjugates, immunomodulators, BCR signaling pathway inhibitors (Bruton tyrosine kinase, PI3K inhibitors), immune checkpoint inhibitors and many others.

Conclusion. The development of weighting approach for the choice of therapy will give a chance to patients with FL and MZL to stay alive up to the «next era» of new effective anticancer drugs. Future strategies, according to the current studies, show the trend away from the cytotoxic chemotherapy in iNHL therapy.