Dr. Ghosh on PET-Adapted Therapy in Patients With Hodgkin Lymphoma

Nilanjan Ghosh, MD, PhD, physician, Levine Cancer Institute, discusses PET-adapted therapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

PET-adapted therapy has been referenced for the past 5 to 7 years in Hodgkin lymphoma. It has been used in multiple clinical trials. The reason, states Ghosh, is that more than a decade ago a paper was published that showed that patients with a positive PET scan after 2 cycles of ABVD had poor outcomes. Patients who had a negative PET scan had much better outcomes, states Ghosh.

Many clinical trials were designed to look at ways to improve the outcomes of patients with positive PET outcomes. These patients were dose escalated. One trial used the regimen IGEV followed by autologous transplant. In these trials, patients with positive PET outcomes had a progression-free survival (PFS) in the 60% to 70% range, whereas patients with negative PET outcomes had a PFS in the 80% to 85% range, states Ghosh.