Combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy, an innovative treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma has achieved a higher survival rate than standard therapies, according to researchers.
- A new immune-boosting treatment has increased the survival rate of patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma to 92%, up from around 80% currently.
- This treatment, combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy (nivolumab), reduces long-term side effects such as secondary cancers and heart disease, while avoiding radiotherapy.
- The trial, conducted on nearly 1,000 patients, could lead to a new standard of care and improve treatments for young people and adults with this rare cancer.
Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare cancer of the blood and immune system, mainly affects young people. Currently, standard treatments, which often include chemotherapy and radiotherapy, cure more than 80% of patients. But these aggressive treatments are often accompanied by serious and lasting side effects: secondary cancers, infertility, heart and lung diseases, etc.
A new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicinehowever, provides a glimmer of hope for patients suffering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma: an innovative treatment, which mobilizes the immune system, has made it possible to achieve an exceptional survival rate, higher than conventional therapies. It could soon become the new standard of care.
Reduce side effects and improve healing rate
“We will see much less breast cancer 20 to 30 years later in these patients, less infertility and less heart diseaseexplains in a press release Dr Jonathan Friedberg, researcher at the Wilmot Cancer Institute (United States) and lead author of the study. The goal of this treatment is to reduce these side effects while improving the recovery rate.”
The clinical trial included nearly 1,000 patients at hundreds of centers in the United States and Canada. They were divided into two groups: the first received standard therapy based on chemotherapy and brentuximab vedotin, a drug that specifically targets cancer cells; the second benefited from a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy with nivolumab, a treatment that stimulates the immune system to attack cancer cells.
92% of patients on immunotherapy saw their cancer stabilize
After two years of follow-up, the results are clear: 92% of patients receiving immunotherapy saw their cancer stabilize, compared to 83% for standard treatment. This new approach also made it possible to reduce the serious side effects usually observed in young patients, in particular by avoiding the systematic use of radiotherapy. Note that the trial innovated by including patients of different ages, ranging from 12 to over 60 years old – a rare concept in clinical trials.
The findings were so promising that the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) halted the study early to allow for rapid review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), America’s health watchdog. Nivolumab, already approved for other types of cancer, could soon become standard treatment recommendations for stages 3 and 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. If this new therapy is approved, it could be a game-changer for the 20% of patients who do not benefit from current treatments.
