Impact of post-brentuximab vedotin consolidation on relapsed/refractory CD30+ Hodgkin lymphomas: a large retrospective study on 240 patients enrolled in the French Named-Patient Program

International audienceBrentuximab vedotin was reported to be effective and safe against refractory/relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma in cohorts of 12 to 102 patients. Herein we report our retrospective analysis of the French experience with brentuximab vedotin used alone to treat 240 refractory/relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma patients enrolled in a named patient program between 2011 and 2013. All patients had histologically documented CD30+ Hodgkin lymphoma; 74% had refractory disease or early relapses. After a median of 3 chemotherapy lines, brentuximab vedotin was infused intravenously (1.8 mg/kg every 3 weeks). The primary endpoint was best response. Response at the end of treatment, its duration, survival data and toxicity profile were secondary endpoints. Patients received a median of 6 cycles; 68 underwent a consolidation thereafter. The best response was observed after a median of 4 cycles in 145 (60.4%) patients: 33.8% complete response/unconfirmed complete response, 26.7% partial response. Objective responses were observed decreased (39.3%) in the 28 patients \textgreater60 years. Median response duration was 8.4 months. With median follow-up at 16.1 months, median progression free-survival was 6.8 months and significantly longer for patients transplanted after brentuximab vedotin (median at 18,8 months); median overall survival was not reached. No death has been linked to brentuximab vedotin toxicity. The most common adverse events were peripheral sensory neuropathy (29.3%) and hematological toxicity. The results of this analysis support the previously reported brentuximab vedotin efficacy with manageable toxicity. Because short-term responses in most patients, high-dose therapy with stem-cell transplantation for responders should be considered rapidl