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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jun 26, 2021; 13(6): 503-520
Published online Jun 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i6.503
Immunotherapy in the treatment of lymphoma
Lazar S Popovic, Gorana Matovina-Brko, Maja Popovic, Milica Popovic, Ana Cvetanovic, Ivan Nikolic, Biljana Kukic, Dragana Petrovic
Lazar S Popovic, Maja Popovic, Ivan Nikolic, Biljana Kukic, Department for Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
Gorana Matovina-Brko, Dragana Petrovic, Department for Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
Milica Popovic, Department for Nephrology and Clinical Immunology, Clinical Center of Vojvodina, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
Ana Cvetanovic, Department for Medical Oncology, Clinical Center of Nis, University of Nis, Nis 18000, Serbia
Author contributions: Popovic LS, Matovina-Brko G and Popovic Ma performed the literature research and wrote the manuscript; Popovic LS, Matovina-Brko G and Popovic Ma, Popovic Mi, Cvetanovic A, Nikolic I, Kukic B, and Petrovic D analyzed the collected data; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no competing interests to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lazar S Popovic, MD, PhD, Professor, Department for Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, University of Novi Sad, Put dr Goldmana 4, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia. lazar.popovic@mf.uns.ac.rs
Received: February 13, 2021
Peer-review started: February 13, 2021
First decision: March 17, 2021
Revised: March 31, 2021
Accepted: May 8, 2021
Article in press: May 8, 2021
Published online: June 26, 2021
Abstract

Relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, especially diffuse large B-cell lymphoma as well as relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphomas are hard-to-treat diseases. Patients who do not respond to initial therapy or experience relapse are treated with salvage regimens, and if eligible for aggressive therapy, treatment is continued with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. Current therapy options can cure substantial numbers of patients, however for some it is still an uncurable disease. Numerous new drugs and cell therapies are being investigated for the treatment of relapsed or refractory lymphomas. Different types of immunotherapy options have shown promising results, and some have already become the standard of care. Here, we review immunotherapy options for the treatment of lymphoma and discuss the results, positions, practical aspects, and future directions of different drugs and cellular therapies for the treatment of this disease.

Keywords: Immunotherapy, Receptors, Chimeric antigen, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Immunoconjugates, Hodgkin disease, Lymphoma, Large B-cell, Diffuse

Core Tip: Relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, especially diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, are hard-to-treat diseases. Many immunotherapeutic options have changed the course of treatment for different solid tumors. Here, we discuss the results, positions, practical aspects, and future directions of different drugs and cellular therapies for the treatment of lymphoma.