John Kuruvilla, MD, from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre summarized the latest quality of life data from the Phase III KEYNOTE-204 Hodgkin lymphoma study comparing pembrolizumab to brentuximab vedontin.
The study involved adults with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma who were randomized to receive pembrolizumab (n=146) or brentuximab vedontin (n=150). After 24 weeks, the pembrolizumab group showed improved global health status/quality of life and physical functioning scores while scores in the brentuximab vedontin group worsened.
The data was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress 2020 in September.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a rare monoclonal lymphoid neoplasm that is usually treated initially with autologous stem cell transplant. And while this can often cure the patient of the cancer, approximately 10% of patients are refractory to this initial treatment, and up to 30% of patients will relapse. For relapsed or refractory patients, high-dose chemotherapy, followed by an autologous stem cell transplant, is the standard of care.
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