Dr Svoboda on the Implications of Nivolumab Plus AVD in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

Jakub Svoboda, MD, associate professor of Medicine, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, physician, Penn Medicine, discusses the implications of the phase 3 SWOG 1826 trial (NCT03907488) of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) in patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Data presented from several studies during the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting have the potential to make a significant impact on the lymphoma treatment landscape, including SWOG 1826, Svoboda begins. Previous data presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting from the phase 3 ECHELON-1 study (NCT01712490) of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) plus AVD in patients with stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma reconfirmed the role of this regimen as the standard of care in adult patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, Svoboda explains.

However, findings from SWOG 1826 study presented in 2023 showed that the addition of nivolumab to AVD elicited a benefit over the standard brentuximab vedotin–based regimen, Svoboda expands. Data from SWOG 1826 showed that at a median follow-up of 12.1 months, nivolumab plus AVD produced a 1-year estimated progression-free survival (PFS) rate of 94% (95% CI, 91%-96%) compared with 86% (95% CI, 82%-90%) for brentuximab vedotin plus AVD (HR, 0.48; 99% CI, 0.27-0.87; 1-sided log-rank P = .0005). The nivolumab regimen has the potential to become the new standard of care with longer follow-up, Svoboda notes.

In addition to the PFS benefit, the toxicity profile of nivolumab plus AVD appeared to be more favorable in the nivolumab-containing regimen, Svoboda explains. The findings from the SWOG 1826 study could have a significant impact on the future of care for this patient population, Svoboda concludes.