EBMT-ITC 2016 | How new drugs are changing the landscape for transplant in lymphoma

Anna Sureda, MD, PhD of Duran I Reynals Hospital, Barcelona, Spain gives an overview of her talk on how new drugs have changed the landscape for transplant in lymphoma held at the 2016 EBMT International Transplant Course (EBMT-ITC) in Barcelona, Spain. She discusses two drugs, specifically in Hodgkin lymphoma. Dr Sureda explains that Hodgkin lymphoma is curable but that some patients relapse and are candidates for stem cell transplantation. There are two groups of new drugs, which are an anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody (brentuximab vedotin) and checkpoint inhibitors, which are not available in Europe outside prospective clinical trials. In the setting of autologous stem cell transplant, which is the standard of care for these patients, the results will probably be significantly improved with the use of brentuximab vedotin and checkpoint inhibitors. For allogeneic stem cell transplantation, which is indicated in patients who relapse after an autologous stem cell transplant, these drugs have been demonstrated to be very effective.