Three patients with chemotherapy-refractory Burkitt’s lymphoma achieved complete metabolic responses after treatment with glofitamab and polatuzumab vedotin, according to a recently published correspondence in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The authors, led by Anca Prica, MD, a hematologist at Margaret Cancer Centre, and associate professor in the division of hematology at University of Toronto, reported on the use of the CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody glofitamab and the anti-CD79b antibody–drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin in patients who had failed multiple prior lines of therapy.
Burkitt’s lymphoma is rare but typically curable with combination chemotherapy, the authors wrote. However, patients with relapsed or refractory disease have a median overall survival of less than three months.
In the correspondence, Dr. Prica and colleagues described three cases of patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma, ranging in age from 22 to 42 and at different disease stages. Each had undergone multiple prior treatments, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, radiotherapy, and intensive chemotherapy regimens, but remained chemotherapy-refractory. The authors characterized this as “a nearly universally fatal condition.”
All three patients responded to the combination of glofitamab and polatuzumab vedotin, achieving complete metabolic responses. Two went on to allogeneic stem-cell transplant and remained in remission at follow-up.
“Glofitamab with polatuzumab vedotin is effective in refractory high-grade B-cell lymphoma; our research extends its range of activity to Burkitt’s lymphoma,” they wrote.
Dr. Prica and colleagues noted that clinical trials for new agents often exclude this patient population because of the rarity and aggressiveness of relapse. These case studies support future investigation of the combination, particularly in patients with central nervous system involvement.
“These results support future prospective investigations of CD20 and CD3 T-cell–engaging bispecific antibodies with polatuzumab vedotin in patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma, including those with central nervous system involvement,” they concluded.
References
Prica A, Roschewski M, Beale P, et al. Glofitamab with polatuzumab vedotin in refractory Burkitt’s lymphoma. N Engl J Med. 2025;392(17):1760-1762. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2501018
