Killing 2 birds with 1 stone in DLBCL

摘要

The success of small-molecule inhibitors targeting the BCR-ABL fusion kinase has been difficult to replicate in more common types of cancers with heterogeneous molecular abnormalities, such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The original classification of DLBCL into germinal center B-cell (GCB) and activated B-cell (ABC) subtypes, based on gene expression profiling, still has a physiological basis but has been supplanted by newer schemes with more categories,(1) based on diverse but recurrent abnormalities. However, specific inhibitors targeting certain of these abnormalities or related pathways have not yet achieved Food and Drug Administration approval in DLBCL, even for patients displaying the targeted abnormality. Might an empiric approach be a complementary alternative for finding (or repurposing) effective drugs? Could 1 drug target different types of DLBCL in different ways? In this issue of Blood, Schmitt and colleagues(2) provide affirmative answers to both questions.