A trial looking at chemotherapy for young people with Hodgkin lymphoma (The 18 to 30 study)

Cancer type:

Blood cancers

Hodgkin lymphoma

Lymphoma

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 2

This was a trial to see if chemotherapy used to treat children who have Hodgkin lymphoma could also help young adults. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

Doctors usually treat Hodgkin lymphoma with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The most commonly used chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma is called ABVD.

Children diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in some European countries are now treated with another chemotherapy regimen. We know from research that this gives them a better chance of cure than adults who have standard chemotherapy.

In this trial, the researchers wanted to find out if a chemotherapy regimen similar to the one used for children could help young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma more than the standard adult treatment.

The aims of the trial were to

Find out if chemotherapy adapted from the children’s regimen helped young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma
Learn more about the side effects

Summary of results

The trial team found that the adapted chemotherapy regimen did help young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma.

This was a phase 2 trial. It recruited 47 people between the ages of 18 and 30. Everyone had the adapted chemotherapy regimen followed by radiotherapy if needed. The adapted chemotherapy regimen included

Of the 47 young adults recruited, 45 completed their chemotherapy. One young adult withdrew their consent before starting treatment and another was withdrawn from the trial because they had a severe reaction to one of the drugs.

After an average follow up of 1½ years, the lymphoma had come back in only 4 of the young adults.

The side effects of treatment were

Nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy) but was mostly manageable and temporary
Fever caused by a drop in white blood cells
Diarrhoea
Being sick
Sore mouth
Tummy (abdominal) pain
Blood clots
Bone and joint pain
Death of bone tissue due to steroids was noted in a few people

The trial team concluded that the results showed that the adapted chemotherapy regimen could help young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma. They think that future trials could compare this regimen (or a similar one) with ABVD as treatment for young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.