Redefining Lymphoma Standards of Care: Top Datasets From ASCO and EHA 2026

In this episode of Oncology On the Go, CancerNetwork® joined Matthew Matasar, MD, chief of the Division of Blood Disorders at Rutgers Cancer Institute/Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, and professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, as he dove into the practice-changing data reshaping the management of aggressive and indolent B-cell lymphomas. Fresh off the presentations at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and the 2026 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress, Matasar broke down the most talked-about datasets in the field.  

Matasar began by sharing his expert clinical perspectives on the phase 3 frontMIND trial (NCT04824092) evaluating tafasitamab (Monjuvi) plus lenalidomide (Revlimid) and rituximab (Rituxan) with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) in newly diagnosed high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which were concurrently published in The Lancet.1,2 He assessed how to balance the regimen’s progression-free survival benefit against incremental toxicities and scheduling demands. Furthermore, the conversation explored encouraging data regarding bispecific antibody combinations for older or frail patient populations, as well as innovative engineering strategies aimed at overcoming the challenging "fratricide" phenomenon in cellular therapies for relapsed T-cell lymphoma.

“In terms of how we move from putative success with these studies into wider deployment, I am encouraged by the pace of community adoption of bispecific antibodies not just in lymphoma—where we have seen a very nice uptake over the last year—but in other disease states, including solid tumor malignancies,” Matasar said regarding the growth of bispecific antibodies in the field. “As the clear need to deploy these agents in a broader range of patients grows, the lymphoma community is going to benefit from that work, and we’ll see our community partners become increasingly capable of delivering these treatments. My expectation is that by the time these studies read out positively in the years to come, we will have an oncology community that is ready to meet those data where they are and deploy them in the best service of our patients.”

References

1. Lenz, G, Trněný M, Burke JM, et al. frontMIND: phase 3 study of tafasitamab (Tafa) plus lenalidomide (Len) and R-CHOP for patients (pts) with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). J Clin Oncol. 2026;44(suppl 17):LBA7000. doi:10.1200/JCO.2026.44.17_suppl.LBA7000

2. Lenz, G, Trněný M, Burke JM, et al. Tafasitamab plus lenalidomide and R-CHOP versus R-CHOP for first-line treatment of patients with high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (frontMIND): a global, phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2026;407(10547):P2528-2541. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00866-4