Good news for patients diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) who are under 22 years of age.
Research published online in the journal Blood suggests that so-called dose-dense drug delivery is more effective and presents the young HL patients with fewer long-term risks to their health than traditional chemotherapy regimens,
The new regimen, idenitifed by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital, in Providence, Rhode Island, combines 6 chemo drugs into a single dose-dense regimen, one that limits the cumulative amount of each chemo drug, below the recognised thresholds known for causing long-term toxicity.
What are the more traditional chemotherapy regimens for Hodgkin's?
MOPP
Mechlorethamine
Vincristine
Procarbazine
Prednisone
And …
ABVD
Doxorubicin
Bleomycin
Vinblastine
Dacarbazine
What is the new regimen?
ABVE-PC
Doxorubicin
Bleomycin
Vincristine
Etoposide
Prednisone
Cyclophosphamide
What did researchers hope to achieve with this new regimen?
--Cure the patient's Hodgkin's disease
--Reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy for these patients (thereby reducing infertility, second malignancy, and cardiopulmonary toxicity) while still ensuring its efficacy;
--Reach a rapid early response (RER) in order to further reduce cumulative therapy;
--Increase event-free survival;
--Shorten chemotherapy regimens (many patients required only 9 weeks of chemotherapy)
What are the conclusions of the study?
"In essence, we've been able to cure the cancer while reducing the risk of long-term effects on our patients," said Dr. Cindy Schwartz, author of the study. "This study has shown conclusively that the new chemotherapeutic treatment of ABVE-PC simultaneously provides high efficacy and reduces the cumulative doses of chemotherapy and radiation.
"We believe this represents a significant advance in the treatment of HL."
Read more about this breakthrough HERE
