The future of follicular lymphoma management: strategies on the horizon

ABSTRACT: Progress in the therapy of follicular lymphoma (FL), the most common indolent lymphoma subtype, has been achieved in recent years with significant improvement in median overall survival. Most patients diagnosed with FL will now die from other causes. Multiple novel immunotherapy and other targeted therapies are now approved for relapsed and refractory disease. However, early progression and transformation to aggressive lymphoma remain key issues requiring further innovation. We expect that bispecific antibodies will likely move to earlier use and in novel combinations. Future generations of these and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy will be developed in an effort to minimize toxicity and improve efficacy. New technologies, such as circulating tumor DNA assays, may enable more rational selection and guidance of therapy duration or changes in treatment, as well as possibly substituting for follow-up imaging while monitoring patients. We also look forward to more extensive use of quality-of-life tools to select treatment for patients who have a favorable long-term outlook with multiple options. Finally, patients and clinicians now envision a day when FL is no longer referred to as "incurable." Having a definition and possibility of a "cure" and being able to optimize such a mindset in the approach of FL would represent a major advance in our future management strategy.