Dr. Andreadis on Antibody-Drug Conjugates in DLBCL

Charalambos (Babis) Andreadis, MD, MSCE, associate professor of clinical medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the utility of antibody-drugs conjugates (ADCs) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

ADCs are an emerging treatment modality in DLBCL, says Andreadis. CD30-targeted ADCs have demonstrated efficacy in other diseases like T-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma.

In June 2019, the FDA granted an accelerated approval to the CD79b-directed ADC polatuzumab vedotin (Polivy) in combination with bendamustine and rituximab (Rituxan; BR) for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL who have received ≥2 prior therapies.

The approval was based on data from the phase Ib/II GO29365 study which demonstrated an 40% complete response rate with polatuzumab plus BR versus 18% with BR alone. Historically, these patients did not have many treatment options and weren’t considered for transplant, says Andreadis.

Polatuzumab vedotin is also under investigation as a single agent, in combination with other agents beyond BR, and in different lines of therapy, says Andreadis. Additionally, CD74-targeted ADCs are under investigation.