Immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with pretreated HodgkinÊs lymphoma: a Korean single-center, retrospective study

ABSTRACT

Background@#Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL). We analyzed the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab or nivolumab in patients with pretreated cHL. @*Methods@#Clinical data from the cancer chemotherapy registry of Samsung Medical Center were retrospectively analyzed to study patients with cHL treated with pembrolizumab or nivolumab between Oct 2015 and Dec 2018. @*Results@#Of the 20 patients, seven (35%) were enrolled in the study after a relapse following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and 12 (60%) after a relapse following receipt of brentuximab vedotin (BV). Sixteen (80%) patients received pembrolizumab, and four (20%) patients received nivolumab. The complete remission rate was 45% (9/20), and 30% (6/20) of patients achieved partial remission, for an overall response rate (RR) of 75% [15/20; 95% confidence interval (CI), 34.7‒93.3]. With a median follow-up duration of 14 months, the median PFS was 18 months (95% CI, 2.4‒33.5 mo), and the median OS was 36 months [95% CI, 36-not applicable (NA) mo]. Pembrolizumab and nivolumab were generally well tolerated. @*Conclusion@#In this study, pembrolizumab and nivolumab both demonstrated clinical efficacy and tolerability in patients with cHL who failed previous chemotherapy or ASCT.