Immunotherapies beyond rituximab show high response rates in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

This narrative review provides a broad overview of emerging immunotherapies for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) beyond the standard anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab. The authors discuss several classes of agents: bi- and trispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cells, and CAR-NK cells. They report that these therapies achieve high response rates in various settings, though no specific effect sizes or pooled analyses are provided.

The review notes that standard frontline immunochemotherapy (rituximab-based) successfully treats about 60% of DLBCL cases. However, 30-40% of patients develop relapsed or refractory disease, highlighting the need for novel options. The authors do not specify which immunotherapies are most effective or in which lines of therapy, and no comparative data are presented.

As a narrative review, the article does not follow a systematic search methodology, and limitations are not explicitly discussed. No safety data, adverse events, or tolerability information are reported. The review serves as a descriptive summary of the immunotherapy landscape in DLBCL rather than a quantitative synthesis.

For clinicians, this review underscores the expanding arsenal of immunotherapies for DLBCL, but it does not provide actionable comparative efficacy or safety data. Treatment decisions should be guided by primary trial evidence and formal guidelines.