Antibody-targeted therapy: a paradigm of innovative treatment strategies in indolent and aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review outlines the principles of treatment of indolent and aggressive B-cell lymphoma based on current knowledge on the classification of hematologic malignancies and the rationale to implement new antibody-targeted immunotherapeutic approaches.

RECENT FINDINGS

An update is provided on the use of antibody-targeted therapies in clinical trials, with emphasis on new, emerging strategies of immunotherapy in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

SUMMARY

The success of immune-mediated therapies has encouraged studies on antibody-targeted therapy in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Promising new approaches combine classical dose-intense chemotherapy with "tumor-specific" antibody targeting during several phases of the disease. The safety and efficacy of anti-CD20 in the treatment of indolent and aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma at any stage of disease, either as a single agent or as part of multimodality regimes, as an unconjugated antibody or as radioimmunoconjugate have changed dramatically our treatment strategies. Increasing insights into basic molecular biology and immunology of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma may identify subgroups of patients categorized in current classification systems who may benefit from tailored approaches with new modality antibody-targeted therapy in near future.