Dr. Goy on the Clinical Implications of Treating Indolent MCL

Andre H. Goy, MD, physician in chief, Hackensack Meridian Health Oncology Care Transformation Services, chairman, chief physician officer, chief, Lymphoma Division, John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, discusses the clinical implications of treating indolent mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Significant progress has been made in understanding the diversity of the biological presentations of MCL, as there are several subtypes of the disease, Goy says. One subtype that has a distinct gene expression profile is indolent MCL, Goy explains. Patients with indolent MCL typically present with a high white blood cell count, splenomegaly, and little to no lymphadenopathy, Goy adds.

Moreover, indolent MCL is genetically stable, often mutated, and patients can be monitored multiple years out, Goy continues. Over time, some cases can become more complex and develop new mutations, affecting the type of treatment their oncologist picks. However, those changes won’t necessarily affect the rate of progression, Goy concludes.