# Daratumumab for CD20 − CD38 + Relapsed/Refractory Diffuse Large B‐Cell Lymphoma

**Authors:** ZeTong Hong, ZhaoYang Hong, YaXian Ma, Qing Yin, Min Liu, Wei Huang, KuangGuo Zhou, Dan Li, TongJuan Li, Miao Zheng

PMC · DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.70875 · Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine · 2025-10-16

## TL;DR

Daratumumab combination therapy shows promise for treating CD20−CD38+ relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and may help bridge to CAR-T therapy.

## Contribution

Demonstrates Daratumumab's potential as an effective treatment and bridge to CAR-T in CD20−CD38+ R/R DLBCL patients.

## Key findings

- Four CD20−CD38+ R/R DLBCL patients showed remission with Daratumumab combination therapy.
- 1-year OS rate was 75%, with moderate and reversible adverse effects.
- Daratumumab therapy successfully transitioned two patients to CAR-T therapy.

## Abstract

Patients with R/R DLBCL (relapsed/refractory diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma) treated with rituximab‐based regimens often have a reduction in the expression level of CD20. Replacement of target proteins for new targeted chemotherapy has become a popular direction for the treatment of R/R DLBCL. To investigate whether Daratumumab can be an effective alternative to targeted agents as monotherapy or combination chemotherapy in patients with CD20‐CD38+ R/R DLBCL who have failed to respond to CD20 monoclonal antibody treatment and its adjuvant effect on subsequent CAR‐T (chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell immunotherapy). A total of four CD20‐CD38+ R/R DLBCL patients treated with multiple lines of Daratumumab‐based combination chemotherapy were retrospectively collected. For eligible patients, CAR‐T therapy was used afterwards. Also, the authors successfully constructed allografted tumour models in mice. Relevant evaluation showed that four patients who received Daratumumab combination chemotherapy had varying degrees of remission after treatment, including 2 CR, 1 PR and 1 SD. The 1‐year OS rate was 75%, the 1‐year PFS rate was 50% and mOS was 12 months. Adverse effects were moderate and reversible, and no treatment‐related deaths occurred. Daratumumab therapy led to a successful transition to CAR‐T in two patients. Among them, grade 1 CRS occurred. These cases demonstrated that Daratumumab combination therapy has a good application prospect in the treatment of CD20‐CD38+ R/R DLBCL and is helpful for the bridge of CAR‐T therapy.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** MS4A1 (membrane spanning 4-domains A1), CD38 (CD38 molecule), CARTPT (CART prepropeptide)
- **Diseases:** diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (MONDO:0018905), relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (MONDO:0000901)
- **Species:** Mus musculus (taxon 10090)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** KRT20 (keratin 20) [NCBI Gene 54474] {aka CD20, CK-20, CK20, K20, KRT21}, CD38 (CD38 molecule) [NCBI Gene 952] {aka ADPRC 1, ADPRC1, cADPR1}
- **Diseases:** tumour (MESH:D009369), deaths (MESH:D003643), CRS (MESH:D003398), DLBCL (MESH:D016403), CAR-T (MESH:C535887)
- **Chemicals:** Daratumumab (MESH:C556306), rituximab (MESH:D000069283), CAR-T (-)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090]

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530957/full.md

## Figures

2 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530957/full.md

## References

16 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530957/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530957