CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), the most aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is a completely curable disease, says Dr S P Sanyal, senior consultant and hemat oncologist at Mumbai’s Fortis Hospital.
However, he added that while 60 per cent of patients get cured of it, the remaining 40 per cent see a high chance of a relapse. “Two years post-treatment are very crucial. If until that time, the patient manages his or her condition well and there is no sign of a relapse, we can safely say that the patient is cured.”
The understanding of DLBCL has undergone a “tremendous shift,” in the last two decades, say experts. Oncologists THE WEEK spoke to agreed that it is now that they’ve begun to understand this lymphoma much better. So much so that their knowledge of disease biology has become much better and more advanced than it was in 2010. For example, now it is established that this type of lymphoma is definitely not a genetic one and that if 10 patients suffer from DLBCL, three to four of them will die of a relapse, say experts.
Lymphoma is the most common type of blood cancer that accounts for around 25,000 new cases annually in India. In a recent press conference, Dr Sanyal spoke about an FDA-approved therapy for first-line treatment of DLBCL – the use of Polatuzumab, a new drug, in combination with chemotherapy – now available in India – which will offer patients access to cutting-edge care and the potential for improved outcomes. This is the first FDA-approved therapy for the first-line treatment of DLBCL.