pembrolizumab + rituximab + autologous dendritic cells + sargramostim + radiation therapy

This combination immunotherapy regimen is being evaluated by Oslo University Hospital for the treatment of stage III/IV untreated or relapsed follicular lymphoma. The regimen combines the PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab with Sequential Intranodal Immunotherapy (SIIT). SIIT is a multi-component approach designed to overcome tumor tolerance by priming the immune system locally within the lymph nodes. It consists of intranodal injections of low-dose rituximab (to deplete B-cells and potentially release antigens) and autologous dendritic cells (to present tumor antigens), combined with subcutaneous GM-CSF (sargramostim) to support dendritic cell function and local low-dose radiotherapy to induce immunogenic cell death. The addition of intravenous pembrolizumab aims to enhance the systemic anti-tumor CD8+ T-cell response by blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitory pathway, building upon the immunological responses observed in the previous Lymvac-1 trial which utilized SIIT alone.

Brand names

KeytrudaRituxanLeukine

Other names

Sequential Intranodal Immunotherapy plus PembrolizumabSIIT + PembrolizumabPembrolizumab with SIIT in Follicular Lymphoma