Improving gastrointestinal quality of life: romidepsin to tucidinostat in a case of angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma

Abstract

Relapsed/refractory (R/R) peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) has a poor prognosis, with limited treatment options and generally no durable response. However, long-term remission with the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor romidepsin has been reported, especially in angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL). Recently, tucidinostat, a novel oral HDAC inhibitor that selectively inhibits class I and class IIb HDACs, was approved for R/R PTCL in China and Japan. We present the case of a patient with AITL whose gastrointestinal symptoms and health-related quality of life improved after switching from romidepsin to tucidinostat as maintenance therapy. Romidepsin and tucidinostat appear to have different safety profiles; non-haematological toxicities such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, anorexia and fatigue may be reported less frequently with tucidinostat than with romidepsin. This case suggests that switching to tucidinostat therapy may be a viable option for patients with PTCL suffering from severe gastrointestinal adverse events with romidepsin.