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1.
High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant as first salvage treatment for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma in the era of PET-adapted strategies
Viviani, S., Vanazzi, A., Frassoni, S., Rusconi, C., Rossi, A., Romano, A., Patti, C., Schiavotto, C., Sorasio, R., Marasco, V., et al
Leukemia & lymphoma. 2024;:1-12
Abstract
Data on the efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) patients who failed a PET-driven first-line therapy are limited.We retrospectively evaluated 220 adult cHL patients who underwent ASCT from 2009 to 2021 at 11 centers in Italy. Overall, 49.5% had refractory disease, 23.2% relapsed < 12 and 27.3% ≥12 months from the end of first-line chemotherapy. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 73.8% and 89.4%. In univariable analysis for PFS events PET-2+ (HR 2.69, p = .001), anemia (HR 2.22, p = .019), refractory disease (HR 1.76, p = .045), less than CR before ASCT (HR 3.24, p < .001) and >2 lines of salvage therapy (HR 2.52; p = .004) were associated with a higher risk of failure after ASCT. In multivariable analysis, >2 lines of salvage therapy (HR 3.28, p = .004) and RT before ASCT (HR 3.00, p = 0.041) retained significance.ASCT is an effective salvage approach for cHL patients treated in the era of PET-adapted therapies.
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2.
Outcome of High-Dose Chemotherapy Followed by Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma after Different Numbers of Salvage Regimens
Mariotti, J., Ricci, F., Giordano, L., Taurino, D., Sarina, B., De Philippis, C., Mannina, D., Carlo-Stella, C., Bramanti, S., Santoro, A.
Cells. 2024;13(2)
Abstract
The introduction of novel drugs (PD-1 inhibitors and/or brentuximab vedotin) into salvage regimens has improved the response rate and the outcome of patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. However, the impact of new drugs on the outcome has not been adequately investigated so far. We retrospectively analyzed 42 consecutive patients treated at our institution with high-dose chemotherapy/autologous stem cell transplantation after either one standard chemotherapy represented by BEGEV (n = 28) or >1 salvage therapy (ST) comprising novel drugs (n = 14). With a median follow-up of 24 months, the 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse was similar between the two cohorts: 26% for 1 ST and 18% for >1 ST (p = 0.822). Consistently, overall survival and progression-free survival did not differ among the two groups: 3-year overall survival was 91% and 89% (p = 0.731), respectively, and 3-year progression-free survival was 74% and 83% (p = 0.822) for only one and more than one salvage regimens, respectively. Of note, the post-transplant side effects and engraftment rates were similar between the 1 ST and >1 ST cohorts. In conclusion, consolidation with high-dose chemotherapy/autologous stem cell transplantation is a safe and curative option, even for patients achieving disease response after more than one rescue line of therapy.
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3.
A real-world analysis of PD1 blockade from the Rete Ematologica Pugliese (REP) in patients with relapse/refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma
Gaudio, F., Loseto, G., Bozzoli, V., Scalzulli, P. R., Mazzone, A. M., Tonialini, L., Fesce, V., Quintana, G., De Santis, G., Masciopinto, P., et al
Annals of hematology. 2023
Abstract
Checkpoint inhibitors have significantly changed the prognosis of patients with relapsing refractory classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL), demonstrating excellent results in heavily pretreated patients. However, there is still limited data on the real-world experience with PD-1 inhibitors in cHL. Within the context of the Apulian hematological network (Rete Ematologica Pugliese, REP), we performed a retrospective, multicenter analysis of 66 patients with relapsing refractory cHL who had received PD-1 inhibitors in the non-trial setting. Forty-three patients (65%) were treated with nivolumab and 23 (35%) with pembrolizumab. Thirty-one (47%) and 8 (12%) patients underwent autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation prior to checkpoint inhibitor therapy, respectively. The median number of lines of treatment attempted prior to PD-1 inhibitor therapy was 4 (range, 3 to 7). All patients had received brentuximab vedotin prior to checkpoint inhibitor therapy. The overall response rate to PD-1 inhibitors therapy was 70% (47% complete remission (CR) and 23% partial remission (PR)). Twenty-four immune-related adverse events (19 (80%) grades 1-2; 5 (20%) grades 3-4) were documented (4 gastrointestinal, 4 hepatic, 6 fever, 4 hematological, 3 dermatological, 3 allergic rhinitis). Toxicity resolved in all patients, and there were no deaths attributed to checkpoint inhibitor therapy. After a median follow-up of 26 months (range 3-72 months), 54 patients (82%) are alive, and 12 (18%) died. The cause of death was attributed to disease progression in 9 patients and sepsis in 3 patients. After PD-1 inhibitor therapy, 22 patients (33%) relapsed or progressed. The overall survival and progression-free survival at 5 years were 65% and 54%, respectively. This study confirms the efficacy and tolerability of PD-1 inhibitor therapy in relapsed refractory cHL in a real-world setting, demonstrating similar clinical outcomes and toxicity profiles compared to clinical studies.
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4.
Outcomes associated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma in the era of novel agents
Faisal, M. S., Hanel, W., Voorhees, T., Li, R., Huang, Y., Khan, A., Bond, D., Sawalha, Y., Reneau, J., Alinari, L., et al
Cancer medicine. 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND Relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R HL) is a challenging disease with limited treatment options beyond brentuximab vedotin and checkpoint inhibitors. Herein we present the time-trend analysis of R/R HL patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) at our center from 2001-2017. METHODS The patients were divided into two distinct treatment cohorts: era1 (2001-2010), and era2 (2011-2017). The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), non-relapse mortality (NRM), and cumulative incidence of acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD). RESULTS Among the 51 patients included in the study, 29 were in era1, and 22 were in era2. There was decreased use of myeloablative conditioning in era2 (18% vs. 31%) compared to era1 and 95% of patients in era2 previously received brentuximab Vedotin (BV). Haploidentical donors were seen exclusively in era2 (0% vs. 14%) and more patients received alternative donor transplants (7% vs. 32%) in era2. The 4-year OS (34% vs. 83%, p < 0.001) and 4-year PFS (28% vs. 62%, p = 0.001) were significantly inferior in era1 compared to era2. The incidence of 1-year NRM was lower in era2 compared to era1 (5% vs. 34%, p = 0.06). The cumulative incidence of acute GVHD at day 100 was similar in both eras (p = 0.50), but the incidence of chronic GVHD at 1 year was higher in era2 compared to era1 (55% vs. 21%, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Despite the advent of novel therapies, allo-HCT remains an important therapeutic option for patients with R/R HL.
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5.
Prognostic Model using 18F-FDG PET Radiomics Predicts Progression-Free Survival in Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma
Driessen, J., Zwezerijnen, G. J., Schöder, H., Kersten, M. J., Moskowitz, A. J., Moskowitz, C. H., Eertink, J. J., Heymans, M., Boellaard, R., Zijlstra, J. M.
Blood advances. 2023
Abstract
Investigating prognostic factors in relapsed or primary refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R cHL) patients is essential to optimize risk-adapted treatment strategies. We built a prognostic model using baseline quantitative 18F-FDG PET radiomics features and clinical characteristics to predict progression free survival (PFS) in R/R cHL patients treated with salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous stem-cell transplant (ASCT). Metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and several novel radiomics dissemination features representing inter-lesional differences in distance, volume and standard uptake value (SUV) were extracted from the baseline PET. Machine learning using backward selection and logistic regression were applied to develop and train the model on a total of 113 patients from two clinical trials (NCT02280993 and NCT00255723). The model was validated on an independent external cohort of 69 patients (NCT01508312). In addition, we validated four different PET segmentation methods to calculate radiomics features. We identified a subset of high-risk patients with significant inferior 3-year PFS outcomes of 38.1% versus 88.4% for patients in the low-risk group in the training cohort (p<0.001), and 38.5% versus 75.0% in the validation cohort (p=0.015), respectively. The overall survival was also significantly better in the low-risk group (p=0.022 and p<0.001). We provide a formula to calculate a risk score for individual patients based on the model. In conclusion, we developed a prognostic model for PFS combining radiomics and clinical features in a large cohort of R/R cHL patients. This model calculates a PET-based risk profile and can be applied to develop risk-stratified treatment strategies for R/R cHL patients.
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6.
Improved outcomes for relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma after autologous transplantation in the era of novel agents
Spinner, M. A., Sica, R. A., Tamaresis, J. S., Lu, Y., Chang, C., Lowsky, R., Frank, M. J., Johnston, L. J., Miklos, D. B., Muffly, L., et al
Blood. 2023
Abstract
The treatment landscape of relapsed/refractory (R/R) classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has evolved significantly over the past decade following the approval of brentuximab vedotin (BV) and the programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors. We evaluated how outcomes and practice patterns have changed for R/R cHL patients who underwent autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) at our institution from 2011-2020 (N=183) compared to 2001-2010 (N=159) and evaluated prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in both eras. OS was superior in the modern era (4-year estimates 89.1% vs 79.0%, HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.33-0.85, p=0.011) with a trend towards lower non-relapse mortality beyond 2 years post-transplant. Among patients who progressed after AHCT, 4-year post-progression survival increased from 43.3% to 71.4% in the modern era, reflecting increasing use of BV and the PD-1 inhibitors. In multivariable analysis for patients transplanted in the modern era, age ³45 years, primary refractory disease, and lack of complete remission pre-AHCT were associated with inferior PFS, while receipt of a PD-1 inhibitor-based regimen pre-AHCT was associated with superior PFS (HR 0.21, 95% CI 0.05-0.80, p=0.030). Extranodal disease at relapse was associated with inferior OS (HR 3.12, 95% CI 1.25-7.77, p=0.014). Our study demonstrates improved survival for R/R cHL after AHCT in the modern era attributed to more effective salvage regimens allowing for better disease control pre-AHCT and improved outcomes for patients who progressed after AHCT. Excellent outcomes were observed with PD-1 inhibitor-based salvage regimens pre-AHCT and support a randomized trial evaluating immunotherapy in the second line setting.
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7.
Prognostic Factors for the Long-Term Survival after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma
Kadkhoda, D., Nikoonezhad, M., Baghestani, A. R., Parkhideh, S., Momeni-Varposhti, Z., Khadem Maboudi, A. A.
Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP. 2023;24(2):417-423
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study investigated the possible prognostic factors for the long-term survival (Cure Rate) of Hodgkin Lymphoma patients who underwent HSCT. METHODS This retrospective cohort study analyzed 116 Patients diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma who received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Auto-HSCT) between the years 2007 and 2014 and followed up until 2017. The information regarding patients' survival had been collected using phone calls, and their pre-transplant information was available in the archived documents. Prognostic effects were investigated using long-term survival models. RESULTS Patients with obesity had five times higher odds of long-term survival (cure) than the others (P=0.06). Also, the recurrence experience after HSCT negatively impacted the curing potential by 78% (P=0.05). Also, with 32 years as the change point, patients younger than 32 had 76% fewer odds of surviving long-term (P=0.03), and Poor transfused stem cell dose of CD34+ (<0.16 × 106 cells/ml) reduced the odds of long-term survival by 92% (P=0.01). CONCLUSION According to the statistical models used in this study, obesity can increase the curing potential of Hodgkin lymphoma after transplantation. Meanwhile, aging, poor transfused CD34+ cells, and recurrence after HSCT were associated with lower survival following HSCT.
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8.
Brentuximab vedotin plus bendamustine versus platinum-based regimens as 1st salvage therapy and 'bridge' to autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma
Kaloyannidis, P., Al Zayer, M., Al Darweesh, M., Al Batran, M., Al Garni, A., Al Naim, A., Al Hashmi, H., Kanfar, S.
Leukemia & lymphoma. 2023;:1-4
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9.
Fludarabine plus reduced-intensity busulfan versus fludarabine plus myeloablative busulfan in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
Kamijo, K., Shimomura, Y., Shinohara, A., Mizuno, S., Kanaya, M., Usui, Y., Kim, S. W., Ara, T., Mizuno, I., Kuriyama, T., et al
Annals of hematology. 2023
Abstract
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) offers a possible cure for patients with relapsed and refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) through potentially beneficial graft versus lymphoma effects. However, allogeneic HCT is associated with high nonrelapse mortality (NRM). Fludarabine with reduced-intensity busulfan (Flu/Bu2) and myeloablative busulfan (Flu/Bu4) are commonly used in conditioning regimens for allogeneic HCT; however, data on their use in patients with NHL is limited. We investigated the effect of busulfan dose on outcomes by comparing Flu/Bu2 and Flu/Bu4 in patients with NHL who underwent allogeneic HCT. Our study included 415 adult patients with NHL who received Flu/Bu2 (315 patients) or Flu/Bu4 (100 patients) between January 2008 and December 2019. All patients were enrolled in the Transplant Registry Unified Management Program 2 of the Japanese Data Center for Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. The primary endpoint was the 5-year overall survival (OS). To minimize potential confounding factors that may influence outcomes, we performed propensity score matching. The 5-year OS was 50.6% (95% confidence interval (CI), 39.4%-60.8%) and 32.2% (95% CI, 22.4-42.4%) in the Flu/Bu2 and Flu/Bu4 groups, respectively (p = 0.006). The hazard ratio comparing the two groups was 2.13 (95% CI, 1.30-3.50; p = 0.003). Both groups had a similar 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse (38.2% vs 41.3%; p = 0.581), and the Flu/Bu4 group had a higher cumulative incidence of 5-year NRM (15.7% vs 31.9%; p = 0.043). In this study, Flu/Bu4 was associated with worse OS compared with Flu/Bu2 because of high NRM in patients with NHL.
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10.
Post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in HLA-matched and haploidentical donor transplants for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma: a comparative study of the LWP EBMT.: GVHD prophylaxis for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma
Montoro, J., Boumendil, A., Finel, H., Bramanti, S., Castagna, L., Blaise, D., Dominietto, A., Kulagin, A., Yakoub-Agha, I., Tbakhi, A., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has emerged as a promising approach for preventing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). However, there is a lack of studies examining the impact of this GVHD prophylaxis when different donor types are used in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). OBJECTIVE To compare the outcomes of patients with HL undergoing HSCT from both HLA-matched donors, which include matched sibling donors (MSD) and matched unrelated donors (MUD), and haploidentical donors, using PTCy as GVHD prophylaxis approach in all cohorts. STUDY DESIGN We retrospectively compared transplant outcomes of allo-HSCT from 166 HLA-matched donors (96 siblings and 70 unrelated) and 694 haploidentical donors using PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis in patients with HL registered in the EBMT database from 2010 to 2020. RESULTS Haploidentical transplantation showed significantly lower platelet engraftment (86% vs 94%, p<0.001) and higher rates of grades II-IV acute GVHD (24% vs 34%, p=0.01) compared to HLA-matched transplantation. The 2-year cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality (NRM) was significantly lower in the HLA-matched cohort compared to haploidentical cohort (10% vs 18%, p=0.02), resulting in a higher overall survival (OS) rate (82% vs 70%, p=0.002). There were no significant differences observed in terms of relapse, progression-free survival, or GVHD-free relapse-free survival between the groups. In multivariable analysis, haploidentical transplantation was associated with an increased risk of grades II-IV acute GVHD, NRM, and worse OS compared to HLA-matched transplantation. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that, in the context of PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis, transplantation from HLA-matched donors appears to be a more favorable option compared to haploidentical transplantation.