In a pre-conference announcement before the start of 10th International Symposium on Hodgkin Lymphoma (ISHL) taking place at the Gürzenich in Cologne, Germany, October 22-25, 2016, Seattle Genetics confirmed that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris®) will be highlighted in 21 data presentations.
Lymphoma is a general term for a group of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system and is the most common type of blood cancer. There are two major categories of lymphoma: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is distinguished from other lymphomas by the characteristic presence of CD30-positive Reed-Sternberg cells.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 8,500 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma will be diagnosed in the United States during 2016 and more than 1,100 will die from the disease. According to the Lymphoma Coalition, over 62,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma each year and approximately 25,000 people die each year from this cancer.
International Symposium on Hodgkin Lymphoma
Over the last decade, the ISHL10 symposium, this year hosted by the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG), has become the central forum for clinicians and scientists for a comprehensive exchange of up-to-date results and new treatment ideas, discussing the relevance of new findings for daily clinical practice in Hodgkin Lymphoma.
ISHL10 is expected to cover the most recent results in basic research, diagnostics and treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma and related malignancies. In addition to the scientific program, a number of Satellite symposia and scientific workshops will complement the program.
Brentuximab vedotin
The presentations discuss a number of studies evaluating brentuximab vedotin across a broad range of Hodgkin lymphoma disease settings. The data from these presentations sports the goal to establish brentuximab vedotin as the Foundation of Care for classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
Brentuximab vedotin is an antibody-drug conjugate or ADC directed to CD30, a defining marker of classical Hodgkin lymphoma that plays a role in tumor pathogenesis. The drug is being evaluated globally as the foundation of therapy for Hodgkin lymphoma in more than 45 ongoing corporate- and investigator-sponsored clinical trials.
“For more than a decade, we have been committed to improving treatment outcomes for classical Hodgkin lymphoma patients. We have made tremendous progress with Adcetris, which is now FDA-approved for two Hodgkin lymphoma indications in the U.S. and Europe and is being evaluated broadly across all lines of therapy and in many novel regimens,” noted Jonathan Drachman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Seattle Genetics.
“The data presented at ISHL10 continue to advance our goal of establishing Adcetris as the foundation of care for HL. With 21 abstracts accepted for presentation, we, along with our partner Takeda, are pleased to share new and updated data with the scientific community at ISHL to help move the field forward,” Drachman added.
“The data to be presented at this year’s ISHL are a proof point of the excellent progress we have made
in furthering the clinical program of brentuximab vedotin,” said Dirk Huebner, M.D., Executive Medical Director, Oncology Therapeutic Area Unit, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company.
“Through our robust ongoing clinical investigation program, we have continued to see benefit of brentuximab vedotin, particularly in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma or other CD30-positive malignancies who would typically face a poor prognosis. We remain committed to bringing this important therapy to all patients who might benefit from it,” Takeda’s Huebner added.
AETHERA trial
Data presented at ISHL10 include an update of the progression-free survival and safety from the phase III AETHERA trial approximately four years since the last patient was enrolled, demonstrating sustained progression-free survival benefit after extended observation. In addition, updates will be presented from trials evaluating brentuximab vedotin as both mono- and combination therapy in frontline Hodgkin lymphoma patients age 60 and older, and as second-line therapy for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. Lastly, preclinical data will be presented indicating additional potential mechanisms of action for brentuximab vedotin , including immunogenic cell death, supporting evaluation of combination therapy with immuno-oncology agents.
Brentuximab vedotin is currently not approved for the treatment of frontline or salvage Hodgkin lymphoma in patients eligible for autologous transplant, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) or as a combination therapy for Hodgkin lymphoma.
