Treatment with brentuximab vedotin plus bendamustine in unselected patients with CD30‐positive aggressive lymphomas

Abstract

Objectives A treatment regimen consisting of bendamustine and brentuximab vedotin (BV) has been described as a highly potent salvage therapy and as an effective induction therapy leading to high response rates before autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). In this retrospective analysis, we aimed to assess this therapy's efficacy in unselected patients with cHL and CD30+ peripheral T‐cell lymphoma (PTCL). Patients and methods Data of 28 patients with cHL and five patients with PTCL treated with a combination of bendamustine and BV at three Austrian tertiary cancer centers were analyzed. Results In patients with cHL, the ORR was 100% (78.6% CR, 21.4% PR). After 17 months median follow‐up, median survival times were not reached; 1‐year PFS was 81.9%, and 1‐year OS was 95.7%. Thirteen eligible patients (46.4%) successfully underwent planned ASCT after salvage therapy with bendamustine and BV and subsequent high‐dose chemotherapy. Three of the five PTCL patients achieved CR, while two did not respond and died during or shortly after therapy. Conclusion A combination of bendamustine and BV is an effective salvage and induction therapy before ASCT in patients with relapsed/refractory cHL. Further research is warranted to evaluate the use in patients with PTCL.

The addition of bendamustine to brentuximab vedotin leads to improved rates of complete metabolic remission in children, adolescents and young adults with relapsed and refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma: a retrospective single‐centre series

“…Single‐agent bendamustine achieved a CMR rate of 33% in adults with R/R cHL 5 . While there are no randomised comparisons, a number of studies have reported higher CR/CMR rates with the combination of Bv plus bendamustine (Bv + B) in adults, than with either agent alone 2,6–11 . A phase 1/2 study of 55 adults with R/R cHL reported a CR rate of 74%, with PFS at three years of 60%, in patients undergoing ASCT 6 .…”

“…5 While there are no randomised comparisons, a number of studies have reported higher CR/CMR rates with the combination of Bv plus bendamustine (Bv + B) in adults, than with either agent alone. 2,[6][7][8][9][10][11] A phase 1/2 study of 55 adults with R/R cHL reported a CR rate of 74%, with PFS at three years of 60%, in patients undergoing ASCT. 6 However, a retrospective series using Bv + B in children and young people reported a lower CR rate of 43%, and two-year PFS of 33%.…”

Molecular insights into pathogenesis and targeted therapy of peripheral T cell lymphoma

“…Kim et al [90] reported that the disease control rate was 48.5% in the patients with R/R high CD30-expressing NHL including PTCL-NOS (24.2%), ENKTL (21.2%) and AITL (3%). Recently, Wagner et al [91] suggested that a combination of bendamustine and BV may be an effective salvage therapy in patients with PTCL. Together, the data from clinical trial suggest that BV has opened a new era in the management of PTCL.…”

Mitotic Poisons in Research and Medicine

“…The current trend is a combination of this drug with other drugs in order to reach a synergistic effect and a better therapeutic index. The example of this approach is a combination with an alkylation agent bendamustine (Treanda) in induction therapy prior to autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma [ 176 ].…”