Transplant-Free Approach in Relapsed Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults
Authors: Stephen Daw, Peter D. Cole, Bradford S. Hoppe, David Hodgson, Auke Beishuizen, Nathalie Garnier, Salvatore Buffardi, Maurizio Mascarin, Andrej Lissat, Christine Mauz-Körholz, Jennifer Krajewski, Alev Akyol, Russell Crowe, Bailey Anderson, Yan Xu, Richard A. Drachtman, Kara M. Kelly, Thierry Leblanc, Paul Harker-Murray
Journal: JAMA Oncology (2025)

Importance Retrieval strategies for children, adolescents, and young adults with relapsed classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) aim to maintain efficacy while minimizing long-term toxic effects. Children, adolescents, and young adults with low-risk, relapsed cHL may benefit from replacing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant with less intensive involved-site radiotherapy (ISRT). Objective To evaluate a risk-stratified, response-adapted, transplant-free approach for treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults with low-risk relapsed cHL with nivolumab plus brentuximab vedotin (BV) followed by BV plus bendamustine for patients with suboptimal response and ISRT (30.0 to 30.6 Gy). Design, Setting, and Participants CheckMate 744 (R1 cohort) was a phase 2, nonrandomized, single-arm study enrolling children, adolescents, and young adults aged 5 to 30 years with low-risk cHL between September 25, 2017, and December 16, 2020, across the US, Canada, and Europe. Data were analyzed from September 2017 to November 2022. Exposures Patients received 4 cycles of nivolumab plus BV induction; patients with complete metabolic response (CMR) received an additional 2 cycles of nivolumab plus BV while patients with suboptimal response received 2 cycles of BV plus bendamustine intensification. Patients with CMR after induction or intensification received ISRT consolidation. Main Outcomes and Measures Prespecified coprimary end points were CMR rate (Lugano 2014 classification) any time before ISRT and 3-year event-free survival (EFS) rate, per blinded independent central review (BICR). Results Of 28 included patients treated in the low-risk cohort, 18 (64%) were female, and the median (range) age was 17 (6-27) years. At a median (range) follow-up of 31.9 (2.2-55.3) months, CMR per BICR any time before ISRT was 93% (26 of 28; 90% CI, 79.2-98.7; objective response rate [ORR], 100%), and 23 of 28 (82%) achieved CMR per BICR after 4 cycles of nivolumab plus BV (ORR, 96.4%). Kaplan-Meier estimates of EFS and progression-free survival rates at 3 years were 87% (3 of 18; 90% CI, 69.5-94.7) and 95% (1 of 18; 90% CI, 76.7-99.0), respectively. During induction, 22 patients (79%) had treatment-related adverse events, including 7 with grade 3 or 4 adverse events, 2 with anemia, 1 with neutropenia, and 6 with immune-mediated adverse events. Serious adverse events leading to discontinuation occurred in 2 patients. Conclusions and Relevance This nonrandomized clinical trial found that for children, adolescents, and young adults with low-risk, relapsed cHL, a transplant-free, risk-adapted, response-based approach with nivolumab plus BV and ISRT offered high CMR rates and high 3-year EFS rate, with a safety profile consistent with that of each agent used. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02927769