Hematologic Oncology Update, Issue 1, 2016 (Video Program)Monitoring patients with HL who achieve a complete response with brentuximab vedotin
1:35 minutes.
TRANSCRIPTION:
DR YOUNES: Most patients with Hodgkin lymphoma have very high CD30 levels. So the CD30 level, per se, does not predict response in Hodgkin lymphoma patients. And, unfortunately, there’s really no prognostic model that predicts who is going to achieve a CR and who is not going to achieve a CR. So what we would do then, we treat the patients 4 or 5 cycles, repeat the imaging studies. If in CR, we continue treatment. You have the option of giving up to 16 cycles. In the old days, we used to jump the gun and try to search for a donor and do allogeneic transplant. I think knowing now that many of patients who achieve a CR can have durable CRs, now we sit tight. We don’t rush. We just observe the patients, because the likelihood that they would stay in a CR is good. And we will keep this in mind that they may need allotransplant, but we will not act on it right away. DR LOVE: I’m sure there’s no answer to the question I’m going to ask you, but I’m going to ask you anyhow, which is, when you look at this and you see somebody like this who has an unmaintained CR to B vedotin, do you think that you destroyed the last cell and that’s the model you look at? Or do you think this has something to do with the immune system? DR YOUNES: I think it’s probably destroyed the last cell probably. I mean, that’s what is likely the case. I mean, we’re seeing CR patients lasting for up to 5 years. It’s very unusual after autologous transplant and multiple lines of therapy to have a single agent, brentuximab, give you a remission duration for up to 5 years. So it must have killed the last cell, my guess, but we’ll find out. |