Reappraising the Role of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Relapsed and Refractory Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Recent Advances and Outcomes

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a rare yet highly curable disease in the majority of patients treated with modern chemotherapy regimens. For patients who fail to respond to or relapse after initial systemic therapies, treatment with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can provide a cure for many with chemotherapy-responsive lymphoma. Patients who relapse after autologous transplant or those with chemorefractory disease have poor prognosis and represent a high unmet need. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation provides a proven curative therapy for these patients and should be considered, especially in young and medically fit patients. The use of newer agents in this disease such as brentuximab vedotin and immune checkpoint inhibitors can help bring more patients to transplantation and should be considered as well.

Automated summary

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a rare but curable disease, with high success rates using modern chemotherapy regimens. For patients who do not respond or relapse after initial treatments, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can provide a cure. For patients who relapse after autologous transplant or have chemorefractory disease, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a proven curative therapy. Newer agents such as brentuximab vedotin and immune checkpoint inhibitors can also be considered to increase the number of patients eligible for transplantation.