A Canadian Perspective on the Treatment of Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is a slowly progressing B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by monoclonal IgM gammopathy in the blood and infiltration of the bone marrow by clonal lymphoplasmacytic cells. As an incurable disease, the goals for therapy for WM are to relieve symptoms, slow disease progression, prevent organ damage, and maintain quality of life. However, given the rarity of WM, clinical trials comparing treatments for WM are limited and there is no definitive standard of care. The selection of first-line WM therapy is thus based on patient factors, disease characteristics, and drug access, with bendamustine-rituximab and Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor therapy considered preferred treatments. Other treatments such as proteasome inhibitor- or purine analogue-based therapy, alternative chemoimmunotherapy, and autologous stem cell transplantation are generally reserved for the relapsed setting but may be used in rare circumstances in earlier lines of therapy. This paper summarizes the efficacy and safety of these WM therapies and discusses considerations for treatment from a Canadian perspective.