A trial of nivolumab for Hodgkin lymphoma (CA209205)

Cancer type:

Hodgkin lymphoma

Lymphoma

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 2

This trial was for people with Hodgkin lymphoma that had come back after:

a stem cell transplant using their own cells (autologous stem cell transplant)
treatment with the targeted drug brentuximab

More about this trial

This trial started in 2014 and these results were published in 2016. Researchers wanted to find out whether nivolumab helped people with Hodgkin lymphoma that had come back after a stem cell transplant and brentuximab.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) is a type of immunotherapy. It stimulates the body’s immune system Open a glossary item to fight cancer cells. At the time of this trial, nivolumab was already a possible treatment for certain cancers such as melanoma and non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Summary of results

The trial team concluded that nivolumab helps people with Hodgkin lymphoma that has come back after a stem cell transplant Open a glossary item

and brentuximab.

80 people took part in this international phase 2 trial. Everyone had nivolumab as a drip into a vein every 2 weeks. People continued to have nivolumab for as long as it was helping them and the side effects weren’t too bad.

At the time the trial team published these results, 51 people were still having treatment.

Results

The trial team looked at how well nivolumab worked, 6 months after the start of treatment. To do this they looked at the number of people who had:

no signs of their cancer (a complete remission )
a reduction in the number of lymphoma cells (a partial remission)
cancer that stayed the same (stable disease )
cancer that got worse (progressive disease )

They found that, out of the 80 people who took part:

7 had a complete remission
46 had a partial remission
18 had stable disease
6 had progressive disease

The trial team also looked at the number of people who, after 6 months of treatment, had no signs of their cancer getting worse. This is called progression free survival. They found that almost 8 out of every 10 people (almost 80%) had no signs of their cancer getting worse after 6 months of treatment.

The researchers then looked at the number of people who were alive after 6 months. They found that almost everyone who joined this trial was alive after 6 months of treatment.

Side effects

The trial team looked at the most common side effects people had. The side effects included:

tiredness (fatigue)
high temperature
diarrhoea
feeling sick
an allergic reaction
skin rashes and itching
joint pain

Conclusion

The trial team concluded that nivolumab helps people with Hodgkin lymphoma that has come back after a stem cell transplant and brentuximab. They think this could be a new treatment option for people affected by this disease.

The team continues to treat and follow up people as part of this trial. They might publish more results in the future.

We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item

) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.