Antibody-Based Therapies for Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma

• Published in: American journal of clinical dermatology Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 115 - 122
• Main Authors: Welborn, Macartney, Duvic, Madeleine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.02.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Cell cycle; Chemokines; Clinical trials; Dermatology; Drug dosages; Fungal infections; Immunoglobulins; Immunotherapy; Lymphocytes; Lymphoma; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Monoclonal antibodies; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Pharmacotherapy; Review Article; Skin; Stem cell transplantation; Targeted cancer therapy
• ISSN: 1175-0561; 1179-1888
• DOI: 10.1007/s40257-018-0402-5

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are a group of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas that present in the skin. In early-stage disease, the course is generally chronic and indolent; however, in advanced stages of disease, therapies rarely provide long-lasting responses, and the only potential curative therapy is allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. This has led to the search for novel targeted therapies to better treat more advanced stages of CTCLs that cannot be controlled by typical treatment regimens. One area of advancement has been the development of antibodies specifically targeted to cell types that are known to be involved in CTCL. At present, brentuximab vedotin, an antibody–drug conjugate composed of an anti-cluster of differentiation (CD)-30 antibody covalently linked to monomethyl auristatin E, is approved for the treatment of CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorders [lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) and primary cutaneous-anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (pc-ALCL)] as well as transformed CD30+ mycosis fungoides (MF). Additionally, mogamulizumab, an anti-chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) monoclonal antibody, is approved for patients with MF or Sézary syndrome (SS) for whom one prior systemic therapy has failed. Trials are underway looking into the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of CTCLs. As we continue to research CTCL, and as antibody-based therapies continue to advance, more antibody-specific targeted therapy could provide alternative treatment regimens for patients with advanced CTCL.