title: Is watch and wait still acceptable for patients with low-grade follicular lymphoma?
abstract: Follicular lymphoma (FL) represents more than 20% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas worldwide and approximately 30% of the non-Hodgkin lymphomas diagnosed in the United States. Although occasionally localized at the time of diagnosis, most patients have disseminated disease. However, patients are frequently asymptomatic, and this, in combination with a long median survival, led to the initial studies of observing asymptomatic patients without initial therapy, ie, "watch and wait." Since the initial report of watch and wait as a treatment strategy for patients with low-grade FL, our understanding of the biology of the disease has advanced; multiple active new agents have been introduced into practice, and the survival of patients with low-grade FL has improved. Given these changes, is watch and wait still an acceptable treatment recommendation for a newly diagnosed patient with low-grade FL?
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; and.
authors.forename: James O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Armitage
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Dan L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Longo
mesh_terms: D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000473:pathology; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D057832:Watchful Waiting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*