The epidemiology and targeted therapies for relapsed and refractory CD30+ lymphomas

Abstract

Background:

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) both have consistent expression of CD30, a cytokine receptor that is expressed by activated T and B cells but is largely absent from normal tissue.

Methods:

A literature search was conducted via PubMed, Google Scholar, and UpToDate to identify relevant peer-reviewed original research or review articles on HL, sALCL, and CD30 targeted therapies.

Results:

These lymphomas are both more common among males, young adults and the elderly. Although many patients with HL and sALCL can achieve long-term remission after standard first-line therapy, up to a third of these patients are refractory to or relapse after initial therapy. Among these relapsed/refractory patients, many experience disease progression and/or death despite subsequent treatment, and treatment-related adverse events and mortality are not uncommon. To address the need for safer and more effective therapies for these relapsed/refractory patients, researchers have developed therapies that specifically target CD30-expressing cells. Brentuximab vedotin, an antibody–drug conjugate that selectively delivers a toxic microtubule-disrupting agent to malignant cells with CD30 expression, is the first such therapy to be approved in the US and Europe. In clinical trials, brentuximab vedotin has demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with HL after failure of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), or after failure of at least two prior multi-agent chemotherapy regimens in patients who are not ASCT candidates, and in patients with sALCL after failure of at least one prior multi-agent chemotherapy regimen.

Conclusion:

HL and sALCL are both CD30+ lymphomas, and therapies like brentuximab vedotin that target cells expressing CD30 hold promise for the treatment of these diseases.

Keywords: :

• Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma
• CD30 antigen
• Epidemiology
• Hodgkin lymphoma
• Review literature
• Targeted molecular therapy

Transparency

Declaration of funding

This study was funded by Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.

Author contributions: All authors were involved in the study design, analysis, and writing of this review. A.K. and Y.Z. performed the literature review. All authors approved the final version of the article.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

A.R.M., H.Y., A.K., Y.Z., and E.Q.W. have disclosed that they are employees of Analysis Group Inc., which was engaged by Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., to conduct this review. M.M., O.S., and V.B. have disclosed that they were employees of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. at the time this review was conducted. M.M. has further disclosed that she is a stock shareholder in Shire Pharmaceuticals.

CMRO peer reviewers on this manuscript have received an honorarium from CMRO for their review work, but have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgments

No assistance in the preparation of this article is to be declared.