Treatment of CD30-Expressing Germ Cell Tumors and Sex Cord Stromal Tumors with Brentuximab Vedotin: Identification and Report of Seven Cases

Abstract

This case series of seven patients with relapsed or refractory CD30-expressing germ cell tumors (GCTs) or sex cord stromal tumors demonstrates that brentuximab vedotin has activity against GCTs and is well tolerated in heavily pretreated patients with these aggressive tumor types. One patient achieved a complete response that has been durable for almost 4 years since the discontinuation of treatment with brentuximab vedotin. Therefore, brentuximab vedotin may be a valuable option for physicians who care for this difficult-to-treat patient population.

Testicular cancer: Determinants of cisplatin sensitivity and novel therapeutic opportunities

“…None of the patients achieved a partial or complete response, and the majority of patients showed disease progression. The lack of efficacy might be caused by acquired or intrinsic resistance to brentuximab-vedotin, such as loss of CD30 expression as described previously [121].…”

“…A phase II clinical trial has investigated the therapeutic potential of brentuximab-vedotin in TC. This study included five patients with non-seminoma TC tumors of which one patient achieved a complete response and one patient a partial response [121]. However, another phase II trial in 18 relapsed and refractory non-seminoma TC patients, investigating the activity of brentuximab-vedotin, was recently terminated due to lack of efficacy (NCT02689219).…”

Immunotherapy in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors

“…In one patient, partial response to the therapy following two cycles of treatment was reported. However, after four cycles of brentuximab-vedotin, the therapy was discontinued because of the detection of progressive disease (47).…”

Systemic immune-inflammation index in germ-cell tumours: search for a biological prognostic biomarker

“…Multiple clinical trials utilising targeted therapy in refractory GCT were disappointing, with individual patients only rarely achieving objective responses with brentuximab vedotin (Oing et al, 2016;Albany et al, 2017b). In part, this could be explained by the lack of clinically validated biomarkers and the molecular selection of patients prior to their enrolment in clinical trials (Kollmannsberger et al, 2017).…”