Treatment of Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: The Old and the New

Despite remaining an incurable disease, overall survival improvements have been noted in patients with advanced-stage follicular lymphoma. The Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) is a robust prognostic index in this disease, and continues to provide prognostic information in the rituximab era. Rituximab has significantly changed the management of follicular lymphoma, and the most dramatic impact of rituximab is observed in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, resistance to rituximab remains a problem, and standard therapy in the rituximab-refractory setting includes radioimmunotherapy, autologous stem cell transplantation, and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In addition, several novel agents show encouraging activity in follicular lymphoma, including bendamustine, lenalidomide, bortezomib, and other proteasome inhibitors, and BCL2 inhibitors.