Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Drug Regimen Improves Survival in Lymphoma
Clinical Breakthroughs

Drug Regimen Improves Survival in Lymphoma

By Anna WilliamsDec 19, 2018
Share
Facebook Twitter Email
Barbara Pro, MD, professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, was a co-author of the paper published in The Lancet.

A drug called brentuximab vedotin combined with chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival for patients with a type of T-cell lymphoma, without an increase in adverse events, according to the results of a phase III clinical trial.

The findings, published in The Lancet, led to FDA approval of the drug regimen for newly diagnosed adults.

“This is the first prospective trial in peripheral T-cell lymphoma to show an overall benefit over the standard chemotherapy, CHOP,” said co-author Barbara Pro, MD, professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma is a rare, aggressive form of lymphoma that accounts for about 10 percent of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in the U.S. For decades, most subtypes of T-cell lymphomas have been treated similarly, with a combination chemotherapy known as CHOP (the drugs cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone). However, outcomes for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma have typically been poor, and previous trials attempting to improve upon CHOP have largely failed.

In several forms of peripheral T-cell lymphoma, a protein called CD30 is expressed on cancer cells. Brentuximab vedotin, a drug that targets CD30, had previously been approved for treatment in anaplastic T-cell lymphoma.

The current study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combining brentuximab vedotin with chemotherapy — cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and prednisone (CHP) — in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma that expresses the CD30 protein.

The international, phase III trial randomized 452 patients with previously untreated CD30-positive peripheral T-cell lymphoma to receive either a combination of brentuximab vedotin and CHP, or the standard CHOP regimen.

The results showed a significant improvement in median progression-free survival in the brentuximab vedotin and CHP group (48 months), compared with the CHOP group (21 months). Treatment with brentuximab vedotin and CHP also led to a significant improvement in overall survival, with a 34 percent lower risk of death.

Furthermore, there appeared to be no increase in toxicity, with similar rates of adverse events between the two treatment groups.

Based on the findings of the trial, in November the FDA expanded approval of brentuximab vedotin for use in combination with chemotherapy as frontline treatment for adult patients with CD30-positive peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

“This combination is a new treatment available for our patients,” Pro said.

The study was funded by Seattle Genetics, the manufacturer of brentuximab vedotin and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. The research was also supported in part through the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute Cancer Center support grant (P30 CA008748).

Cancer Research Women in Medicine
Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Evolving Telehealth Research and its Place in Healthcare Delivery 

Dec 8, 2023

Global Health Day Highlights Pandemic, HIV Research

Dec 8, 2023

AI May Spare Breast Cancer Patients Unnecessary Treatments

Dec 7, 2023

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Evolving Telehealth Research and its Place in Healthcare Delivery 

Dec 8, 2023

Global Health Day Highlights Pandemic, HIV Research

Dec 8, 2023

AI May Spare Breast Cancer Patients Unnecessary Treatments

Dec 7, 2023

Drug Extends Survival in Prostate Cancer with Genetic Mutations  

Dec 6, 2023

Pioneering Biochemist Craig Crews Named Winner of 2024 Kimberly Prize

Dec 5, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
2023-Sim-Open-House_161
2023-Sim-Open-House_127
2023-Sim-Open-House_108
2023-Sim-Open-House_106
2023-Sim-Open-House_118
2023-Sim-Open-House_068
2023-Sim-Open-House_069
2023-Sim-Open-House_027
2023-Sim-Open-House_155
2023-Sim-Open-House_161
2023-Sim-Open-House_127
2023-Sim-Open-House_108

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.