Abstract

Pharmacotherapy of peripheral T-cell lymphoma: review of the latest clinical data

Author(s): Eric D Jacobsen

The peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) are a disparate group of diseases with varying clinical and pathological features and heterogeneous natural histories. All of the PTCL histologies are uncommon in North America and western Europe. Even the most common PTCL histology, PTCL-not otherwise specified, accounts for only a small fraction of all cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The relative rarity and clinical heterogeneity of these diseases has hampered basic science and clinical research and, until recently, made PTCL a neglected area of drug development. This has partly contributed to lower success rates in treating PTCL relative to the more common B-cell nonHodgkin’s lymphomas. The roles of many therapies utilized to treat PTCL, including stem cell transplantation, remain undefined. Thankfully, several therapies have been approved in recent years and large scale studies are evaluating the comparative efficacy of various therapeutic approaches. This review describes the common PTCL subtypes and delineates recent advances.