Reflecting on a patient experience during a fellowship in 2015, Suchitra Sundaram, MD, notes how the standard treatment for stage IV ABC-subtype diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was R-CHOP chemotherapy, which cured around 60% of patients. Advances in lymphoma biology since that time have led to better risk assessment and identification of high-risk patients, prompting new clinical trials.
One such trial, POLARIX, combined R-CHOP with the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin, showing a 27% reduction in disease progression risk. This combination has been approved for first-line treatment and offers particular benefits for older patients with ABC-subtype DLBCL and high International Prognostic Index scores, with ongoing trials exploring new drug combinations.
