Targeting The Tumor Microenvironment in Lymphomas: Emerging Biological Insights and Therapeutic Strategies

Purpose of Review: This review aims to discuss recent advances in elucidating the tumor microenvironment (TME) in B lymphomas and resultant novel therapeutic development. Recent Findings: While tumor morphology, immunophenotype, and molecular profile are established factors that predict outcome and guide therapy, the prognostic impact of infiltrating, non-tumor cells is now emerging. This is simultaneously facilitating the development of new therapies that target non-tumor cells. Summary: The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex ecosystem composed of infiltrating cells and byproducts, extracellular matrix, and other non-cellular tissues. In lymphomas, our current understanding of the role of the TME is principally informed by studies in B-cell lineage diseases. As we improve our understanding of lymphoma biology, the importance of the impact of the non-tumor cell microenvironment is becoming more apparent. This lays the foundation for the investigation and development of novel therapies and combination strategies that target non-tumor cells and tumor cell/non-tumor cell interactions.