Reviewing Treatment Options for Patients With Marginal Zone Lymophoma

Tycel J. Phillips, MD, assistant professor at the University of Michigan Cancer Center, discusses the current treatment options for patients with marginal zone lymphoma (MZL).

MZL is considered a low-grade lymphoma, says Phillips. For a long time, the only approved agent in the field for these patients was single-agent rituximab (Rituxan). The treatment approaches for patient with MZL also appear to piggy-back off those used for patients with follicular lymphoma.

Over the last 2 years, the field has seen a shift toward new advances. The Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) was granted approval for the treatment of patients with MZL, and the combination of lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus rituximab was approved for the treatment of patients with MZL who have been previously treated. These are now the only 2 agents approved for the treatment of these patients, says Phillips, but this is more so because it’s a smaller niche of patients that generally do well with most therapies.