Brazilian review explores emerging therapies for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma

A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on December 12, 2023, entitled, "Current perspectives on the management of refractory or relapsed classic Hodgkin lymphoma in Brazil: Balancing efficacy, safety, and tolerability."

Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL), which accounts for 90–95% of all cases of Hodgkin lymphoma, is the most frequent cancer in adolescents and the most frequent lymphoma in adolescents and young adults. Despite progressive improvements over past decades and the general sensitivity of CHL to frontline chemotherapy, approximately 10–15% of patients have refractory disease that either does not respond to such therapy or progresses after an initial partial response.

In patients with refractory or relapsed disease, standard treatment until recently consisted mainly of salvage chemotherapy, in many cases followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation. However, improved understanding of the pathobiology of CHL, coupled with the introduction of novel agents, has markedly changed the treatment landscape in the past decade. Although refractory or relapsed CHL continues to be challenging, the therapeutic landscape is undergoing profound changes brought about by novel agents, particularly brentuximab vedotin and immunotherapy.

In this new review, researchers Flávia Dias Xavier, Danielle Leão Cordeiro de Farias, Abrahão Elias Hallack Neto, Glaciano Nogueira Ribeiro, Marco Aurelio Salvino de Araujo, Thiago Xavier Carneiro, and Otavio Cesar Carvalho Guimarães Baiocchi from Hospital Universitário de Brasília-Universidade de Brasília/Ebserh, Hospital DF Star, Hospital A Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Clínica Hematológica/Grupo Oncoclinicas, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Universidade Estadual do Pará, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, and Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz discuss the most salient treatment options for adult patients with refractory or relapsed CHL, with a special focus on the Brazilian healthcare setting, which is constrained by inherent characteristics of this system.

"In the attempt to balance efficacy, safety and tolerability, practicing physicians must rely on clinical trials and on results from real-world studies, and use their own point of view and experience, as well as patient characteristics and previous therapy, to make treatment decisions for refractory or relapsed CHL."