The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the treatment glofitamab plus gemcitabine and oxaliplatin as an option for treating people with DLBCL. It will be available for adults with DLBCL which has not responded to treatment (refractory) or has returned (relapsed) and who are not suitable for a stem cell transplant.
The treatment, also known as GlofitGemOx, combines the targeted treatment glofitamab with the chemotherapy treatments gemcitabine and oxaliplatin.
Glofitamab is a type of targeted treatment called a bispecific antibody. It works by attaching to two targets, one on the surface of lymphoma cells and one on the surface of T cells (part of the immune system). This means that cells of the immune system come into direct contact with the lymphoma cells, and this leads to activation of the T-cells which in turn kill the lymphoma cells.
The committee at NICE recommended GlofitGemOx because people receiving it in trials, lived longer before their lymphoma returned, and lived longer overall, compared to the current treatment options.
The UK made a significant contribution to the STARGLO trial - we saw that GlofitGemOx was a very effective and well tolerated treatment.
It is great to have another highly effective option for treatment of relapsed or refractory DLBCL especially in patients who may not be suitable for other intensive treatments such as a stem cell transplant or CAR-T cell therapy
Find out more about drug development, approval and funding, or visit Lymphoma TrialsLink for the latest on clinical trials for lymphoma.