Hodgkin lymphoma can be treated or could be suppressed in a human body by the checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab. These are the principal treatments we have in medical science with this purpose. Even in the patients who decline autologous stem-cell transplantation or who are not suited for high-dose chemotherapy and subsequent autologous stem-cell transplantation because of comorbidities, these inhibitors act quite efficiently. The main aim for us here is to highlight the use of checkpoint inhibitors in the management of relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin lymphoma in patients who are ineligible for an autologous stem-cell transplant with the goal of improving disease control while limiting adverse events.
Relapse can occur in up to 30% of patients with advanced-stage classic Hodgkin lymphoma. In the United States, approximately 1,000 patients with relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin lymphoma underwent autologous stem-cell transplantation in 2017. Patients received nivolumab (3 mg/kg) once every two weeks until disease progression or impermissible toxicity. The overall response rate (ORR) was 69% and similar between cohorts. The overall CR rate was 16%, and the best CR rate (29%) occurred in brentuximab vedotin-naive patients.
At last, we can say that all these data are very much enough to prove that either by monotherapy or by a combination, these inhibitors are efficient in treating the condition.
https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/OP.20.00771
