Lymphoma / ASH 01/13/2026

Oncologists Review Practice-Changing Lymphoma Findings From ASH 2025

Smiling African American male doctor in white coat with glasses, representing healthcare and medical expertise, on a plain white background. Kingsley Nnawuba, MD Young woman with dark curly hair smiling at the camera, wearing a white blouse and silver necklace, against a neutral gray background—professional portrait for healthcare or cancer research. Urshila Durani, MD, MPH

Key Points

  • Data from the EPCORE FL-1 study on epcoritamab with rituximab and lenalidomide is poised to update the standard of care for relapsed or refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma.
  • Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) may offer a more tumor-specific treatment approach compared with conventional bispecific antibodies or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.
  • Real-world analyses reported promising outcomes for ViPOR (venetoclax, ibrutinib, prednisone, obinutuzumab, and lenalidomide) with or without polatuzumab vedotin in R/R large B-cell lymphomas, including patients post-CAR T-cell therapy.

EPCORE FL-1 and ADCs in Large B-Cell Lymphoma

At the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting (ASH 2025), Kingsley Nnawuba, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, sat down with Urshila Durani, MD, MPH, of Mayo Clinic, to discuss practice-changing data for the treatment of lymphoma.

Dr. Durani highlighted the phase 3 EPCORE FL-1 study, which investigated epcoritamab with rituximab and lenalidomide versus rituximab and lenalidomide alone in R/R follicular lymphoma. The addition of epcoritamab significantly improved progression-free survival (HR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.13-0.33; P < .0001), overall response rate, and complete response rate, according to the ASH 2025 presentation. Despite the practice-changing nature of the data, epcoritamab’s increased toxicity may require more careful patient selection, said Dr. Durani.

The conversation also turned to the emerging role of ADCs and other targeted therapies in large B-cell lymphoma. Polatuzumab vedotin plus R-CHOP is a mainstay frontline treatment, but there is an unmet need for treatments in the R/Rsetting, particularly relapse after CAR T-cell therapy. ASH 2025 featured promising real-world data on ViPOR, with or without polatuzumab vedotin, in R/R large B-cell lymphomas.

“Even though we may be seeing more toxicity in the real world than we saw in the trials, we are also seeing those significant benefits… so I think we are going to see a burgeoning of targeted treatments in the post-CAR T-cell setting,” said Dr. Durani.