Brentuximab vedotin for the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma

Although Hodgkin's lymphoma is considered a highly curable cancer, a substantial portion of patients will be refractory or will relapse after first-line therapies and even after subsequent autologous stem cell transplantation. With the absence of effective salvage therapies, these patients carry a poor prognosis with dismal survival. In this therapeutic void, the antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin was introduced and has since yielded impressive and durable response with minimal and reversible toxicity. Such efficacy in the relapse-refractory setting has led to new hypotheses and dramatic changes in our treatment strategies of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Numerous clinical trials evaluating brentuximab in the frontline and various other treatment settings are forthcoming and will demonstrate the full extent of the drug's impact.