The use of brentuximab vedotin with or without subsequent allogeneic stem cell transplantation in selected patient groups

Abstract

While combined chemotherapy regimens can be effective in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL), around a third of patients are unresponsive or relapse within a few years of treatment. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) may achieve long-term disease control in patients with chemoresistant disease, but many patients are unable to undergo allo-SCT. Brentuximab vedotin (BV) is a novel antibody-drug conjugate targeting CD30. Recent data have suggested that this treatment may be beneficial in patients who have had an unsatisfactory response to at least two prior treatments and are not eligible for allo-SCT. In addition, BV may be used to reduce tumour burden, allowing patients to subsequently progress to allo-SCT. This article discusses case studies of treatment-refractory patients with cHL and sALCL, for whom BV has provided durable complete responses (CRs).