Alison Moskowitz, MD
The invited discussant of the ECHELON-1 trial, Alison Moskowitz, MD, Associate Attending Physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented: “In the past decade, three effective drugs for Hodgkin lymphoma have emerged—brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab—and they are being incorporated into front-line treatment.”
Dr. Moskowitz noted that when the results of ECHELON-1 were originally presented in 2017, the difference in 2-year modified progression-free survival between the two treatment arms was modest, and results were not met with much enthusiasm.
“With longer follow-up, we see that progression-free survival improvement [with brentuximab vedotin plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A+AVD)] is maintained in patients who have stage III or IV disease, and the progression-free survival advantage has now translated into an overall survival benefit. I agree with Dr. Ansell that A+AVD is now the preferred treatment of patients with stage III or IV Hodgkin lymphoma,” she stated.
DISCLOSURE: Dr. Moskowitz has received honoraria from Seattle Genetics; has served as a consultant or advisor to ADC Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ibrium Therapeutics, Janpix, Kyowa Kirin International, Merck, miRagen Therapeutics, Seattle Genetics, and Takeda; and has received institutional research funding from ADC Therapeutics, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Incyte, Merck, miRagen Therapeutics, and Seattle Genetics.
Brentuximab vedotin plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (a regimen known as A+AVD) significantly reduced the risk of mortality vs standard treatment with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) in patients with previously untreated stage III or IV classical Hodgkin...