The development of targeted therapies, such as rituximab-an anti-CD20 antibody targeting CD20, has undergone a paradigm shift from conventional chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma (ML). Although a subset of ML patients has been cured, the treatment of refractory and relapsed diseases remains challenging. Fortunately, growing insights on molecular biology for ML have led to the development of a number of innovative agents. Moreover, a plethora of targeted therapies, including novel antibodies targeting surface antigens, and small molecular inhibitors targeting oncogenic signaling pathways, tumor suppressors, and epigenetic regulation are currently under investigation for the improvement of dismal prognosis. In addition, immunotherapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific T-cell engager antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor T-cells for ML have been rapidly developed to target tumor microenvironment. These promising mechanism-based targeted therapies could lead to a successful ML management.
Keywords: Immunotherapy; Malignant lymphoma; Novel agent; Targeted therapy.