The role of anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 agents in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: The future is now

Immune checkpoints inhibitors have been incorporated into standard treatment protocols for advanced solid tumors. The aim of T-cell-based immune therapy in cancer has been to generate durable clinical benefits for patients, paired with enhanced side effect profiles. The beneficial antitumoral activity of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been thoroughly demonstrated in certain metastatic malignancies (e.g. melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma); however, the therapeutic role in lymphoid cancers is complex. Nonetheless, the striking clinical activity seen in early clinical trials of various subtypes of relapsed lymphoma have paved the way for these exciting innovative therapeutic alternatives in these tumors. In this article we assess the literature on the role of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in Diffuse Large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and describe future strategies involving these new anticancer agents in this lymphoid neoplasm.