The Use of Brentuximab Vedotin in Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the Kransnodar Region

The treatment of relapsed/refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) remains to be a challenging issue. The morbidity of HL is reported to increase in the Krasnodar region. While considerable progress in the treatment of HL has been achieved, the relapse rate still remains high. The standard second-line treatment allows for the disease control in only half of cases of relapsed HL. Until recently, however, relapses after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (autoHSCT) could be treated only by polychemotherapy aimed at slowing the tumor growth. The use of anti-CD30 conjugated monoclonal antibodies and cytotoxic agent was shown to control the relapsed disease after high dose chemotherapy followed by autoHSCT. The present study provides pharmacological characteristics of brentuximab vedotin, its antineoplastic mechanism as well as the author’s own clinical experience in the management of a female patient with HL after autoHSCT.