Advancing radioimmunotherapy and its future role in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

ABSTRACT

Radioimmunotherapy is an effective treatment modality with an acceptable toxicity profile in both indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and histologic transformation. Its ease of administration from a patient's perspective sets it apart from chemoimmunotherapy regimens. It has demonstrated efficacy in a range of different treatment scenarios. Despite its promise as a treatment modality, radioimmunotherapy has been seldom used, and one of the previously available agents is now off the market. Radioimmunotherapy has shown impressive activity in both the relapsed and upfront settings in follicular lymphoma, histologic transformation, as consolidation after chemotherapy, and in conjunction with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell support. Future efforts should focus on its optimal employment in the upfront setting for follicular lymphoma as well as further investigation of the promising activity in histologic transformation.