New treatment options for patients with relapsed Hodgkin’s lymphoma

This article reviewed new treatment options for patients with relapsed Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL).

The most common front-line (primary) chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of HL is ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine). 88 – 94% of patients with HL respond to this treatment. However, 10 – 30% of these patients eventually relapse (cancer recurrence). These patients need other treatment options.

Brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), nivolumab (Opdivo), and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) are monoclonal antibodies. This type of treatment binds to cancer cells, leading to cancer cell death. The best sequence of treatment with brentuximab vedotin and other new agents for the treatment of patients with relapsed HL remains under investigation.

The recommended order of treatment for patients with relapsed HL depends on what treatments have already been given. For patients who are good candidates for a stem cell transplant (SCT), brentuximab vedotin plus bendamustine (Treanda) is recommended before the transplant. Bendamustine is an alkylating agent. This type of treatment damages the DNA inside cancer cells. This leads to cancer cell death. This regimen is especially recommended for patients who have not previously received brentuximab vedotin.

For patients who have disease progression (the tumors grow and spread) after SCT, brentuximab vedotin can be given alone as a monotherapy. This treatment is also recommended for patients who are not eligible for SCT. If these patients do not respond to brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab or pembrolizumab are recommended.

For patients who have relapsed after receiving front-line brentuximab vedotin, chemotherapy remains an option. Nivolumab or pembrolizumab can also be considered. Cellular therapies such as CAR T-cell therapy (immune cells changed in the laboratory to kill cancer cells) or a targeted therapy such as lenalidomide (Revlimid) are also options.

This article reviewed new treatment options patients with relapsed HL. These included brentuximab vedotin and other new agents.