Brentuximab vedotin monotherapy may provide a frontline treatment option for older patients unable to tolerate conventional combination chemotherapy, a new study published online ahead of print in the journal Blood has shown.1
Because treatment-related toxicity is significant in older patients with Hodgkin lymphoma and comorbidities often limit therapeutic options, researchers sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of frontline brentuximab vedotin monotherapy in patients 60 years or older.
For the open-label, phase 2 study, researchers enrolled 27 patients. All received the CD30-directed antibody-drug conjugate as frontline therapy.
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Results showed that the objective response rate was 92%, with a complete remission rate of 73%. Furthermore, all patients achieved stable disease or better, and all had reduced tumor volume following immunotherapy. Median progression-free survival was 10.5 months (range, 2.6+ to 22.3+) and median overall survival had not yet been reached (range, 4.6+ to 24.9+ months).
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In regard to safety, the most common adverse events were peripheral sensory neuropathy (78%), fatigue (44%), and nausea (44%), which were grade 2 or lower for most patients.
Patients with diabetes and/or hypothyroidism were particularly prone to developing peripheral neuropathy; however, these comorbidities were not associated with delayed time to resolution or improvement.
Reference
- Forero-Torres A, Holkova B, Goldschmidt J, et al. Phase 2 study of frontline brentuximab vedotin monotherapy in Hodgkin lymphoma patients aged 60 years and older [published online ahead of print September 16, 2015]. Blood. doi: 10.1182/blood-2015-06-644336.
