A Multicenter Observational Study to Understand the Clinical Characteristics, Treatment Patterns and Access to Novel Therapies of Patients With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in the MEA Region

Plain-language summary

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the most common hematologic malignancy, with over 80,500 estimated new cases diagnosed in the United States in 20231. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most frequent subtype of NHL, accounting for 30%-40% of cases2. DLBCL is an aggressive malignancy with heterogeneous biology and behavior. Disease risk stratification and treatment planning involve various patient and clinical characteristics (e.g., age, stage, and tumor bulk), prognostic indices (e.g., International Prognostic Index (IPI) score), and gene expression profiling. Patients typically present with nodal or extranodal disease, usually exhibiting rapid tumor growth and symptoms that are highly dependent upon the tumor localization. The diagnosis and subtyping of DLBCL have significantly advanced, from morphological assessment of tissue slide to numerous ancillary tests, including immunophenotyping performed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), cytogenetics, and detailed molecular testing to classify the disease based on cell of origin (COO). With the advent of novel therapeutic options, molecular subtyping of DLBCL at diagnosis is expected to allow prognostic stratification of patients into distinct subgroups. This stratification could provide a preclinical rationale for therapeutic targeting the involved pathways and paving the application of personalized treatment. DLBCL is a potentially curable disease with an overall 60-70% chance of achieving durable complete remission (CR) with the currently used standard first-line immunochemotherapy. However, 30-40% of patients are either refractory to first-line treatment or experience relapse and eventually will die of disease progression7. Although high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) is the recommended SOC for eligible patients in the second-line setting based on results from the pivotal PARMA study, real-world SOC in this setting remains less clearly defined. Patients not cured with ASCT or ineligible to ASCT or refractory to salvage chemotherapy may be considered for Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy targeting CD1910. Although ASCT and CAR-T cell therapy offer patients an opportunity for durable remission, many patients may not be eligible for ASCT or CAR-T cell therapy or relapse after these treatments. In the last decade, the investigation of novel antigens, which can be targeted by immunotherapy and identified to eliminate malignant cells regardless of their molecular pathogenesis, has been constantly pursued. This study aims to address this need by examining the demographic, clinical characteristics, and treatment patterns and exploring access to novel therapies for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients, both treatment naïve and relapsed/refractory patients, in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

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