B-cell lymphoma
What is B-cell lymphoma?
B-cell lymphomas are a type of blood cancer that developed more frequently in immunocompromised patients and elders. It affects B cell and includes several types:
- Follicular lymphoma
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/SLL) –
- Mantle cell lymphoma
- Marginal zone lymphoma
- Burkitt lymphoma
- Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma
- Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma
What are the key symptoms of B-cell lymphomas?
Several symptoms are connected to B-cell lymphoma like:
- Fatigue
- Appetite loss
- Trouble breathing
- Pain or swelling in your belly
- Painless swellings
- Severe itching
- Night sweats (B symptoms)
- Fever (B symptoms)
- Unexplained weight loss (B symptoms)
Who is at risk to develop B-cell lymphoma?
- Males are at a higher risk than females
- Individual of age 60 and above
- Patients that are taking immunosuppressants post organ transplantation.
- HIV patients
Keep in mind that most people who get B-cell lymphoma don’t have these risks. And most people who do have these risks will never get this cancer.
What is the prognosis of B-cell lymphoma?
Both types of lymphoma and stage at diagnosis plays an important role in defining the prognosis of the disease. For example, according to the American Cancer Society, the 5-Year Relative Survival Rate of Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is 73% for the localized stage, 72% for the regional stage, and 55% for the distant stage. While for Follicular lymphoma, the 5-Year Relative Survival Rate was 96% for the localized stage, 89% for the regional stage, and 85% for the distant stage.
- What is the approved medication for B-cell lymphoma?
- According to the FDA website, several molecules were approved for B-cell lymphoma disorders including:
- Tositumomab and iodine I 131 tositumomab for the treatment of patients with CD20 positive, follicular, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, with and without transformation, whose disease is refractory to Rituximab and has relapsed following chemotherapy
- Pembrolizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), or who have relapsed after 2 or more prior lines of therapy.
- Tisagenlecleucel-T for the treatment of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, or DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma who received two or more lines of systemic therapy.
- Rituximab for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma.
- Venetoclax for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), with or without 17p deletion, who have received at least one prior therapy.
- Ibritumomab tiuxetan for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade, follicular, or transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, including patients with Rituximab (Rituxan) refractory follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
- Idelalisib for the following indications (1) Relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), in combination with rituximab, in patients for whom rituximab alone would be considered appropriate therapy due to other co-morbidities; and (2) Relapsed small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies; and (3) Relapsed follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (FL) in patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.
