Amahrelis : Adcetris Maintenance after Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Hodgkin Lymphoma : A Real Life Study from Sfgmtc and Lysa Groups

Background : AETHERA randomized controlled study (Moskowitz, Lancet 2015) showed that the administration of Brentuximab Vedotin (BV) maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) improved progression free survival (PFS) in BV-naive refractory/relapsed (R/R) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. However, since BV approval for R/R HL in 2012, many patients are receiving salvage BV before ASCT, alone or combined with chemotherapy. In the AMAHRELIS retrospective nationwide French study, we investigated the real-life outcome of patients with R/R HL mostly treated with BV-based salvage therapies and who received post-ASCT BV maintenance. Objectives : As primary 0objective, we assessed 2 years-PFS of patients treated with post-ASCT BV maintenance from 2012 to 2017 in France. As secondary objectives, we correlated variables (such as use of salvage BV before ASCT, centrally reviewed TEP-assessed response) with survival, and evaluated reported tolerance of BV using the CTCAE v4.0 criteria. Methods : We conducted this observational retrospective study in 58 national centers. Inclusion criteria were R/R HL patients who received at least two infusions of BV after ASCT, at the exclusion of patients in progression after transplant. Among 1134 patients who underwent ASCT for R/R HL between 2012 and 2017 in France based on the French society of bone marrow transplantation database, 835 (74%) patients were screened and data were available for 794 (70%) patients. FDG-PET scan at relapse and before transplantation were recorded and centrally reviewed (still ongoing). FDG-PET scan were reported using the Deauville score (DS), and complete remission was defined by a DS < 4. Post-transplant status was evaluated based on CT-scan or on FDG-PET scan results. This study was approved by the SFGMTC and the LYSA. Results : Fifteen percent (115/794) of patients met eligibility criteria, and were enrolled in this study. Among them, 95% met inclusion criteria for BV maintenance according to the AETHERA study as primary refractory disease (43%), early relapse (27%) or extranodal disease (49%). The mean number of BV injections after ASCT was 11 (3-18). Patients characteristics were : mean age was 34 y (range between 16-70y), 54% were male, and 57% of patients were stage III or IV at relapse. Notably, 70% of patients received BV as salvage therapy and 81% achieved a complete remission before ASCT. The median follow-up period was 35 months. The 2 years survival for the whole cohort