Pralatrexate: a comprehensive update on pharmacology, clinical activity and strategies to optimize use

Abstract

It has been nearly 8 years since pralatrexate became the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). Like most drugs approved for a particular clinical indication, as much or more is learned once it enters mainstream use as in the years leading up to regulatory approval. Over the past several years, many diverse lines of research have shed new insight into both the agent, and the diseases it treats. In this review, we will bring the reader up to date on the many new aspects related to pralatrexate’s pharmacology, activity across the panoply of T-cell lymphoproliferative malignancies, as well as some new and emerging guidelines that are likely to improve its safety profile. Finally, the review will close with the many new lines of evidence building a rationale for the combination of these novels: novel combination, and the vision for new platforms in PTCL care.

Keywords:

• Pralatrexate
• lymphoma and Hodgkin disease
• pharmacology
• emerging drug
• clinical activity
• malignancies

Potential conflict of interest

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10428194.2017.1306642.