Dr. Ruan on Treatment Considerations for Relapsed/Refractory MCL

Jia Ruan, MD, PhD, associate professor of clinical medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses treatment considerations for patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

To date, there is no single cure for MCL; thus, relapse has been a major challenge. Future research efforts must focus on creating and implementing improved treatment strategies, with anticipated relapse in mind, Ruan says.

If a patient presents with relapsed/refractory MCL, the first step is to thoroughly evaluate all prior lines of therapy. Understanding how the patient responded to each course of therapy will guide the treatment selection process, Ruan explains.

Moreover, high-risk disease features, such as TP53 mutations, as well as performance status, could help indicate whether a patient is a candidate for intensive therapy or if outpatient therapy is a better alternative, Ruan concludes.