Temsirolimus for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma

Abstract

Although recent progress has been made in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) the majority of patients experience relapse and ultimately die of their disease. The translocation t(11;14) is a prerequisite for the diagnosis of MCL and results in overexpression of cyclin D1. Its protein translation is controlled by mTOR, a key element of the PI3K/Akt pathway, and mTOR constitutes an attractive therapeutic target. Temsirolimus, a specific inhibitor of mTOR, has been evaluated in two Phase II trials in patients with relapsed MCL, and promising response rates up to 40% were found. Subsequently, a randomized Phase III trial was initiated, in which superiority in remission induction and progression-free survival could be demonstrated for a regimen of temsirolimus 175 mg for 3 weeks, followed by a 75-mg weekly application in comparison with established agents. This adds temsirolimus to the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of MCL. Further developments target combination therapy in MCL and other lymphoid neoplasms.

Keywords::

• mantle cell lymphoma
• mTOR-inhibition
• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• temsirolimus

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Goerg Hess has received speaker’s honoraria and served on advisory boards of Wyeth. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.