Hodgkin lymphoma responds to immunotherapy

Date: Dec-08-2014 Patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma whose cancer had failed to respond

to other treatments showed improvement in studies that tested the effect of two PD-1

inhibitors - immunotherapy drugs that help the immune system recognize and attack

cancer.

The immunotherapy drugs tested in the trials helped the

Hodgkin lymphoma patients' immune system T-cells attack their blood

cancer.

The results of the two phase 1 trials are being presented at the 56th Annual

Meeting of the American Society

of Hematology in San Francisco, CA.

The trial investigators - including members from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer

Center (MSK) in New York, NY - also report one of the trials in the New England

Journal of Medicine.

Lymphoma is a disease where white blood cells or lymphocytes become cancerous and

grow uncontrollably. There are two main types of lymphoma - Hodgkin lymphoma and

non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the latter being far more common.

The American Cancer Society estimates for the

US suggest there will be nearly 9,200 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma and about 1,180

deaths in 2014.

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is the most common form of Hodgkin lymphoma.

The two studies tested the effects of two PD-1 inhibitors - pembrolizumab and

nivolumab - in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma. PD-1 inhibitors are an

example of immunotherapy - drugs that help the patient's immune system fight

disease.

Trials show immunotherapy holds promise for treatment of blood disorders

PD-1 inhibitors are drugs that block PD-1, a protein on the surface of T-cells

that deactivates the cells. T-cells are a type of lymphocyte or white blood cell

that help the immune system recognize and eliminate cancer cells and other

potentially damaging material.

Some cancer cells - like those in melanoma and Hodgkin lymphoma - escape attack

from the immune system by switching on PD-1 on T-cells - effectively sending these

soldiers of the immune system to sleep. PD-1 inhibitors wake them up again so they

can keep fighting the cancer cells.

The pembrolizumab trial found that 66% of the Hodgkin lymphoma patients who

received the PD-1 inhibitor had a complete or partial response. In the trial that

tested the other PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab, patients showed similar positive

results.

The investigators believe the findings show immunotherapy - a relatively new

approach to fighting cancer - holds huge promise for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma

and a range of other blood disorders.

Craig H. Moskowitz, Clinical Director of MSK's Division of Hematologic Oncology at

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, led the pembrolizumab trial. He says:

"These results are quite extraordinary given the dire circumstances these patients

were facing. Pembrolizumab has already been approved for patients with advanced

melanoma and we're excited that the drug is producing responses in other cancer

types."

Both PD-1 inhibitors showed promising results in classical Hodgkin lymphoma

For the pembrolizumab trial, the investigators enrolled 29 classical Hodgkin

lymphoma patients whose cancer had not responded to treatment with brentuximab

vedotin. Twenty of the patients had also relapsed after stem cell treatment.

After 12 weeks, six of the patients (21% of the group) showed a complete response

and 13 patients (45%) showed partial remission.

The investigators say no serious side effects were reported and only one patient

stopped having treatment after experiencing a moderate adverse effect.

In the second study, investigators enrolled 23 classical Hodgkin lymphoma

patients whose cancer had not responded to treatment - including 18 who had also

relapsed after stem cell treatment - and gave them nivolumab.

After 24 weeks, four patients (17% of the group) had a completed response and 16

(70%) had a partial remission. Three serious side effects were reported.

Dr. Alexander M. Lesokhin, a medical oncologist at MSK and co-lead investigator of

the nivolumab study, says:

"These data are the first to be reported for a completed study of a PD-1 inhibitor

in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. This is good news for Hodgkin lymphoma patients and

for the advancement of immunotherapies."

The Food and Drug Administration has given nivolumab Breakthrough Therapy

Designation in relapsed cHL as a result of these findings.

The teams are now planning further trials to test the drugs in larger groups of

patients.

In June 2014, Medical News Today reported how a new immunotherapy that combined

nivolumab and ipilimumab showed promising results in a phase 1 trial in patients with advanced melanoma.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Not to be reproduced without permission.

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Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.