Jennifer Amengual, MD

“Patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma who are more than 60 years old have unacceptably low progression-free survival rates compared with younger patients. Dr. Evens and colleagues were interested in improving outcomes for this group of patients,” said Jennifer Amengual, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Experimental Therapeutics and a member of the Center for Lymphoid Malignancies and Hebert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

“This study used a creative approach to incorporating newer targeted agents into the standard ABVD backbone [doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine] but does so in a way that limits toxicity. The pretreatment phase with brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) allows older patients, who often present with advanced disease, to potentially decrease their disease bulk and improve their performance status prior to starting combination chemotherapy,” she continued.

“By adding brentuximab vedotin as consolidation therapy, the investigators were able to eliminate bleomycin, protecting patients from the risk of pulmonary toxicity. The regimen was fairly well tolerated, and I look forward to seeing longer-term survival data,” Dr. Amengual commented. ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Amengual reported no conflicts of interest.