Experience of Nivolumab Prior to Autologous Stem Cell Transplant for Relapsed Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma

Purpose Nivolumab is an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) monoclonal antibody that is indicated in relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R HL) after autologous stem cell transplant (autoSCT). Purpose of our retrospective study was to assess safety and efficacy of Nivolumab in R/R HL as a bridge to autoSCT in patients who are refractory to ≥ 2 lines of chemotherapy. Methods Demographic data, number of chemotherapy regimens given previously, number of Nivolumab doses taken, and disease status on PET/CT were noted. Nivolumab was administered as a 3 mg/kg IV infusion every 2 weeks. The immunotherapy related adverse events (irAEs) were noted if any and documented. Results A total of 16 patients were included in the study. Ten patients were male and 6 were female. Median age was 22 years (range 3–32 years). The median number of treatment lines prior to Nivolumab was 3 (range 2–7). Nine patients had Complete Response (CR), 3 had Partial response (PR), 2 had Stable Disease (SD), 1 patient had pseudo-progression; classified as IR (3) and 1 expired before end of treatment evaluation. The drug was well tolerated, with mild irAEs noted. Twelve patients (75%) successfully underwent autoSCT. At a median follow up of 17.5 months (range 0.5–35 months), the progression- free survival (PFS) was 75% and overall survival (OS) was 87.5%. Conclusion Nivolumab is effective and safe in patients with R/R HL and is a good bridging therapy to autoSCT.