Purpose of review: Mantle cell lymphoma is the B-cell lymphoma with the worst prognosis. Until now, no standard treatment has resulted in cure. Improvements in understanding of the disease are needed to advance therapeutic efforts.
Recent findings: Pathology and immunohistochemistry can identify the subset of patients with the worse prognosis. New data suggest that at least a subset of mantle cell lymphoma cases have undergone some form of antigene selection, and particular types of Ig gene rearrangement seem to give a better prognosis. The cell cycle, the ATM, gene and the nuclear factor kappaB pathways are the main targets of the genetic abnormalities occurring in mantle cell lymphoma: new genomic and expression data have been recently published. Unfortunately, this progress has not yet brought any major improvements in therapeutic approaches, which still remain highly unsatisfactory. Autologous and allogenic bone marrow transplantations appear to be the only current treatments that might improve the outcome of patients with PMCL. New additional treatment modalities are currently under investigation.
Summary: This review summarizes all the most recent data published on the biology and treatment of mantle cell lymphoma.