Relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma: management strategies

Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2014 Sep;9(3):284-93. doi: 10.1007/s11899-014-0220-7.

Abstract

Although Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is largely curable with first-line therapy, approximately one-third of patients will not have a complete response to frontline treatment or will subsequently relapse. Only 50% of these patients will be effectively salvaged with conventional therapies. The prognosis is particularly poor for those patients with chemotherapy refractory disease, who are unable to obtain even transient disease control, and for patients who relapse following high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant. In this review, we summarize the most recent updates on the management of patients with relapsed HL, the role of novel therapies such as brentuximab vedotin, and an overview of promising new agents currently under investigation. We also discuss the role of consolidation strategies such as high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant, and reduced-intensity allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, and the need for new strategies in the elderly patient population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Autografts
  • Brentuximab Vedotin
  • Hodgkin Disease / drug therapy
  • Hodgkin Disease / pathology
  • Hodgkin Disease / therapy*
  • Humans
  • Immunoconjugates / therapeutic use
  • Immunotherapy
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / drug therapy
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / therapy*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Stem Cell Transplantation

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Immunoconjugates
  • Brentuximab Vedotin