Dr. Salles on Frontline Management of Follicular Lymphoma

Gilles Salles, MD, PhD, Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, discusses frontline treatment management for patients with follicular lymphoma.

For patients who are asymptomatic, observation is usually the optimal way to start treatment, says Salles. While rituximab (Rituxan) is effective in most patients with follicular lymphoma, those who are asymptomatic showed little benefit from rituximab maintenance in clinical trials.

But, patients who are symptomatic or have a high tumor burden have responded well to rituximab maintenance. In this setting, it has been shown to improve progression-free survival, but not overall survival (OS). Although OS is not improved, this treatment option is still important to consider as it improves the day-to-day management of the disease, says Salles.

New agents such as obinutuzumab (Gazyva) and the combination of rituximab plus lenalidomide (Revlimid) are currently being investigated in this setting, as well.