Dr. McKinney Discusses Ongoing Work in MCL

Matthew S. McKinney, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, co-director of the Molecular Tumor Board, Duke Cancer Institute, discusses ongoing work in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

A lot of ongoing research in MCL is being geared toward chemotherapy-free induction and relapsed/refractory therapy, McKinney says. The BTK inhibitors ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and acalabrutinib (Calquence) have been very important additions to the armamentarium, and building on that success with drugs like lenalidomide (Revlimid) and CD20 monoclonal antibodies is exciting for the field. Whether these agents can be moved into the frontline setting is another unanswered question.

Another area of debate is in which induction chemotherapy regimen works best. Ongoing studies are looking at this, says McKinney. Moreover, what is the role of consolidation stem cell transplant, specifically in patients with minimal residual disease negativity? Duke Cancer Institute is one of many institutions investigating that question.