-
Medical journals
- Career
Follicular lymphoma – current perspective on treatment with emphasis on chemo free strategies
Authors: V. Procházka 1; K. Steinerová 2
Authors‘ workplace: Hemato onkologická klinika LF UP a FN Olomouc 1; Hematologicko onkologické oddělení, FN Plzeň 2
Published in: Transfuze Hematol. dnes,31, 2025, No. 4, p. 297-304.
Category: Review/Educational Papers
doi: https://doi.org/10.48095/cctahd202527Overview
Treatment of follicular lymphoma (FL) is shifting from traditional chemoimmunotherapy to biologically driven chemo‑free strategies. Patients with low tumor burden are managed with a watch‑and‑wait approach or rituximab monotherapy, while symptomatic disease requires immunochemotherapy (commonly bendamustine-rituximab, R‑CHOP, or bendamustine-obinutuzumab, BG). The rituximab‑lenalidomide (R²) combination provides an effective, time‑limited chemo‑free option. In relapsed/refractory FL, tafasitamab‑R², zanubrutinib‑obinutuzumab, and the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat are established options. Emerging immunotherapies – bispecific antibodies (mosunetuzumab, epcoritamab,) and CAR‑T cells (axi‑cel, tisa‑cel, liso‑cel) – achieve deep and durable remissions even in heavily pretreated patients. Advanced response monitoring using PET/CT and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) enables more precise evaluation and personalized treatment.
Keywords:
follicular lymphoma – immunochemotherapy – bispecific antibodies – cellular therapy – functional cure
Sources
1. Mir F, Mattiello F, Grigg A, et al. Follicular lymphoma evaluation: real‑world management and outcomes after therapy. Am J Hematol. 2020; 95 : 1503–1510.
2. Casulo C, Sehn LH, et al. Treatment of relapsed and refractory follicular lymphoma: which treatment for which patient for which line of therapy? Blood. 2025; 146 (15): 1782–1791.
3. Casulo C, Nowakowski GS, et al. The POD24 challenge: where do we go next? Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2024; 2024 : 301–309.
4. Jacobsen E. Follicular lymphoma: 2023 update on diagnosis and management. Am J Hematol. 2022; 97 : 1638–1651.
5. Federico M, Caballero Barrigón MD, Marcheselli L, et al. Rituximab and the risk of transformation of follicular lymphoma: a retrospective pooled analysis. Lancet Haematol. 2018; 5 (8): e359–e367. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026 (18) 30090-5.
6. Luminari S, Barbieri E, Nizzoli ME. Towards a chemo‑free approach for follicular lymphoma. Br J Haematol. 2025; 207 (5): 1755–1764.
7. Ardeshna KM, Smith P, Norton A, et al. Rituximab versus a watch‑and‑wait approach in patients with advanced‑stage, asymptomatic, non‑bulky follicular lymphoma. Lancet Oncol 2014; 15 : 424–435.
8. Kahl BS, Williams ME, Hong F, et al. Long‑term follow‑up of the RESORT study (E4402): a randomized phase III comparison of two different rituximab dosing strategies for low‑tumor burden follicular lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2024; 42 (7): 774–778.
9. Brady JL, Binkley MS, Hajj C, et al. Definitive radiotherapy for localized follicular lymphoma staged by FDG PET/CT. Blood. 2019; 133 : 237–245.
10. Rummel MJ, Niederle N, Maschmeyer G, et al. Bendamustine plus rituximab versus CHOP plus rituximab as first-line treatment for indolent and mantle-cell lymphomas (StiL). Lancet. 2013; 381 : 1203–1210.
11. Marcus R, Davies A, Ando K, et al. Obinutuzumab‑based immunochemotherapy for previously untreated follicular lymphoma (GALLIUM). N Engl J Med. 2017; 377 : 1331–1344.
12. Morschhauser F, Fowler NH, Feugier P, et al. Rituximab plus lenalidomide in advanced untreated follicular lymphoma (RELEVANCE). N Engl J Med. 2018; 379 : 846–858.
13. Bachy E, Seymour JF, Feugier P, et al. Sustained progression‑free survival benefit of rituximab maintenance in patients with follicular lymphoma: long‑term results of the PRIMA study. J Clin Oncol. 2019; 37 (31): 2815–2824.
14. Rodgers TD, Casulo C, Boissard F, Launonen A, Parreira J, Cartron G. Early relapse in first-line follicular lymphoma: a review of the clinical implications and available mitigation and management strategies. Oncol Ther. 2021; 9 (2): 329–346. doi: 10.1007/s40487-021-00161-5.
15. Belada D, Trněný M, et al. Diagnostické a léčebné postupy u nemocných s maligními lymfomy – XV. vydání. Kooperativní lymfomová skupina; Hradec Králové, HK Credit, duben 2025.
16. Sehn LH, Luminari S, Scholz CW, et al. Tafasitamab plus lenalidomide and rituximab for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma: results from a phase 3 study (inMIND). Blood. 2024; 144 (Suppl 2): LBA‐1. doi: 10.1182/blood-2024-212970.
17. Poh Ch, Hernandez-Ilizaliturri F, Trneny M, et al. Phase 3 study (inMIND) of tafasitamab plus lenalidomide and rituximab for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma: Clinical characteristics and outcomes by age. Blood. 2025; 146 (Suppl 1): 3582. doi: 10.1182/blood-2025-3582.
18. Leonard JP, Trneny M, Izutsu K, et al. Lenalidomide plus rituximab in relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma (AUGMENT). J Clin Oncol. 2019; 37 : 1188–1199.
19. Jacobson CA, Chavez JC, Sehgal AR, et al. Axicabtagene ciloleucel in relapsed/refractory indolent NHL (ZUMA‑5). Lancet Oncol. 2022; 23 : 91–103.
20. Dreyling M, Fowler NH, Dickinson M, et al. Durable responses after tisagenlecleucel in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (ELARA) – final analysis. Blood. 2024; 143 : 1713–1725.
21. Morschhauser F, Tilly H, Dickinson M, et al. Lisocabtagene maraleucel in follicular lymphoma: the phase 2 TRANSCEND FL study. Nat Med. 2024; 30 : 1146–1157.
22. Sehn LH, Bartlett NL, Matasar MJ, et al. Long‑term 3‑year follow‑up of mosunetuzumab in relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after ≥2 prior therapies. Blood. 2025; 145 (7): 708–719.
23. Linton KM, Vitolo U, Jurczak W, et al. Epcoritamab monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (EPCORE NHL-1): a phase 2 cohort of a single-arm, multicentre study. Lancet Haematol. 2024; 11: e593–e605.
24. Cheah CY, Bartlett NL, Assouline S, et al. Mosunetuzumab retreatment is effective and well-tolerated in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. HemaSphere. 2022; 6 (Suppl 3): P1124.
25. Zinzani PL, Morschhauser F, Tilly H, et al. Zanubrutinib plus obinutuzumab versus obinutuzumab alone in relapsed/refractory FL (ROSEWOOD). J Clin Oncol. 2023; 41 : 5107–5117.
26. Morschhauser F, Tilly H, Chaidos A, et al. Tazemetostat for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma: an open-label, single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2020; 21 (11): 1433–1442.
27. Maher N, Maiellaro F, Ghanej J, Rasi S, Moia R, Gaidano G. Unraveling the epigenetic landscape of mature B cell neoplasia: mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutic opportunities. Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26 (17): 8132. doi: 10.3390/ijms26178132.
28. Luminari S, Manni M, Galimberti S, et al. Response-adapted postinduction strategy in patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma: the FOLL12 study. J Clin Oncol. 2022; 40 (7): 729–739.
29. Arnason JE, Matasar MJ, Luminari S, et al. Early clearance of circulating tumor DNA and association with odronextamab response in relapsed/refractory FL and DLBCL. Blood Adv. 2025; 9 (23): 6130–6140.
30. Jain N, Sohani AR, Hill BT, et al. The future of follicular lymphoma management. Blood. 2025; 146 : 1792–1803.
31. Guerra L, Chauvie S, Fallanca F, et al. End‑of‑induction [18F]FDG‑PET/CT Deauville scoring in follicular lymphoma. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2024; 51 : 3311–3321.
32. Durmo R, Chauvie S, Fallanca F, et al. Prognostic role of interim PET in follicular lymphoma: a post hoc study of FOLL12 trial by Fondazione Italiana Linfomi. Blood Adv. 2025; 9 (12): 2927–2934.
33. Trotman J, Falconer J. In pursuit of a functional cure for follicular lymphoma. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2024; 2024 (1): 293–300. doi: 10.1182/hematology.2024000654.
PODÍL AUTORŮ NA PŘÍPRAVĚ RUKOPISU
VP – rešerše a napsání rukopisu; KS – oponentura a revize textu
PROHLÁŠENÍ O KONFLIKTU ZÁJMŮ
Autoři deklarují, že v souvislosti s iniciací a přípravou rukopisu nemají žádný konflikt zájmů.
DEKLARACE POUŽITÍ AI
AI byla využita při úpravě citací a editorských úpravách textu.
PODĚKOVÁNÍ
Tato práce byla realizována za podpory MZČR – DRO (FNOL, 00098892).
Labels
Haematology Internal medicine Clinical oncology
Article was published inTransfusion and Haematology Today
2025 Issue 4-
All articles in this issue
- Cílená a buněčná terapie v léčbě lymfomů – nová éra napříč diagnózami
- Generational shift of the treatment of classical Hodgkin lymphoma
- Treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the Czech Republic in 2025
- Treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the Czech Republic in 2025
- Modern therapeutic approaches in the treatment of relapsed and refractory marginal zone lymphoma
- Follicular lymphoma – current perspective on treatment with emphasis on chemo free strategies
- Treatment of relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and the real-world data perspective
- Early isolated central nervous system relapse of mantle cell lymphoma successfully treated with ibrutinib and CAR T-cell therapy
- Guidelines for the management of adverse events following CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in adult patients with lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – consensus of expert panel from certified centres in Czechia and Slovakia for 2025
- European Congress on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2025 – využitá příležitost
- Komentář k článku Antitrombotické zajištění žen v průběhu těhotenství, kolem porodu a v šestinedělí
- Komentář autorů k reakci na článek Antitrombotické zajištění žen v průběhu těhotenství, kolem porodu a v šestinedělí
- Erratum
- Transfusion and Haematology Today
- Journal archive
- Current issue
- Online only
- About the journal
Most read in this issue- Guidelines for the management of adverse events following CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in adult patients with lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – consensus of expert panel from certified centres in Czechia and Slovakia for 2025
- Generational shift of the treatment of classical Hodgkin lymphoma
- Treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the Czech Republic in 2025
- Treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the Czech Republic in 2025
Login#ADS_BOTTOM_SCRIPTS#Forgotten passwordEnter the email address that you registered with. We will send you instructions on how to set a new password.
- Career