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Background: Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a highly curable disease, while novel therapy is needed for refractory or relapsed (R/R) patients. This phase II trial aimed to evaluate the role of camrelizumab plus gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in R/R cHL patients., Methods: Transplant-eligible patients with R/R cHL were enrolled and received two 14-day cycles of camrelizumab 200 mg intravenously (IV) and two 28-day cycles of camrelizumab 200 mg IV, gemcitabine 1000 mg/m 2 IV, and oxaliplatin 100 mg/m 2 IV on days 1 and 15. Patients with partial response (PR) or stable disease received an additional cycle of combination therapy. Those who achieved complete response (CR) or PR proceeded to autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The primary endpoint was the CR rate at the end of protocol therapy before ASCT., Results: Forty-two patients were enrolled. At the end of protocol therapy, the objective response rate and CR rate were 94.9% (37/39) and 69.2% (27/39) in the evaluable set, and 88.1% (37/42) and 64.3% (27/42) in the full analysis set, respectively. Twenty-nine patients (69.0%) proceeded to ASCT, and 4 of 5 patients with PR achieved CR after ASCT. After a median follow-up of 20.7 months, the 12-month progression-free survival rate was 96.6% and the 12-month overall survival rate was 100%. Grade 3 or higher treatment emergent adverse events occurred in 28.6% of patients (12/42), mainly hematological toxicity., Conclusions: Camrelizumab combined with GEMOX constitutes an effective salvage therapy for R/R cHL, proving to be relatively well-tolerated and facilitating ASCT in most patients, thus promoting sustained remission., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04239170. Registered on January 1, 2020., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: The advanced extra-nodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is highly aggressive and lacks effective treatment with a poor prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in CR1., Methods: Forty of 121 patients with advanced ENKTL from four Chinese hospitals between January 2006 to December 2021 who achieved first complete remission (CR1) and received at least 4 cycles chemotherapy, were enrolled for analysis. Twenty patients received ASCT as up-front consolidation therapy (Group A), and 20 patients only received chemotherapy (Group B). Clinical features, treatment and follow-up information were collected., Results: With a median follow-up of 27 months (range, 4-188 months), the 2-year overall survival (OS) in Group A, 61% (95% CI 37%-85%), was better than that in Group B, 26% (95% CI 2%-50%), p = .018. The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 56% (95% CI 32%-80%) in Group A, 26% (95% CI 2%-50%) in Group B, p = .026. III-IV grade hematological toxicity was the most common adverse event. No treatment-related deaths were observed in both groups., Conclusion: Up-front ASCT could improve survival of advanced ENKTL patients in first complete remission, but need be confirmed by a prospective clinical trial., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is the standard treatment strategy for refractory or relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R cHL). However, a single transplantation is insufficient to cure the disease because of unfavorable risk factors. Herein, we evaluated the outcomes of single or tandem ASCT in patients with R/R cHL, especially in high-risk patients., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed R/R cHL patients who underwent single or tandem ASCT between April 2000 and June 2021 at the Beijing Cancer Hospital and Peking University International Hospital., Results: A total of 134 patients were enrolled. Patients were allocated to a favorable-risk group (group A, n = 33), an unfavorable-risk group (group B, n = 81) that underwent single ASCT, and an unfavorable-risk group that underwent tandem ASCT (group C, n = 20). The median follow-up time was 99 months (range, 91-107 months), and no treatment-related deaths occurred after single or tandem ASCT. However, 27 patients (2 in group C) died during the follow-up period. The groups A, B, and C had 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates of 77.05%, 45%, and 74.67%, respectively (p = 0.0014), and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of 89.85%, 76.06%, and 95%, respectively (p = 0.18). Neither the median PFS rates of groups A and C nor the OS rates of all groups were reached., Conclusions: Our study discusses the advantages of tandem transplantation for high-risk patients with R/R cHL., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Information on Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is mostly limited to Europe and North America. This real-world, retrospective study assessed treatment pathways and clinical outcomes in adults with stage IIB-IV classical HL receiving frontline treatment ( n  = 1598) or relapsed/refractory HL (RRHL, n  = 426) in regions outside Europe and North America between January 2010 and December 2013. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) in the RRHL group. Among patients with RRHL, 89.0% received salvage chemotherapy; most common regimen was etoposide, methylprednisolone, cytarabine, cisplatin (ESHAP; 26.3%). Median PFS in the RRHL group was 13.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.9-20.2) and was longer in patients with vs. without stem cell transplantation (SCT; 20.6 vs. 7.5 months; p  = 0.0071). This large-scale study identified a lower PFS for RRHL in the rest of the world compared with Europe and North America, highlighting the need for novel targeted therapies and SCT earlier in the treatment continuum. Clinical trial registration: NCT03327571.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a type of central nervous system restricted non-Hodgkin lymphoma, whose histopathological diagnosis is majorly large B cell lymphoma. To provide specific, evidence-based recommendations for medical professionals and to promote more standardized, effective and safe treatment for patients with PCNSL, a panel of experts from the Chinese Neurosurgical Society of the Chinese Medical Association and the Society of Hematological Malignancies of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association jointly developed an evidence-based consensus. After comprehensively searching literature and conducting systematic reviews, two rounds of Delphi were conducted to reach consensus on the recommendations as follows: The histopathological specimens of PCNSL patients should be obtained as safely and comprehensively as possible by multimodal tomography-guided biopsy or minimally invasive surgery. Corticosteroids should be withdrawn from, or not be administered to, patients with suspected PCNSL before biopsy if the patient's status permits. MRI (enhanced and DWI) should be performed for diagnosing and evaluating PCNSL patients where whole-body PET-CT be used at necessary time points. Mini-mental status examination can be used to assess cognitive function in the clinical management. Newly diagnosed PCNSL patients should be treated with combined high-dose methotrexate-based regimen and can be treated with a rituximab-inclusive regimen at induction therapy. Autologous stem cell transplantation can be used as a consolidation therapy. Refractory or relapsed PCNSL patients can be treated with ibrutinib with or without high-dose chemotherapy as re-induction therapy. Stereotactic radiosurgery can be used for PCNSL patients with a limited recurrent lesion who were refractory to chemotherapy and have previously received whole-brain radiotherapy. Patients with suspected primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) should be diagnosed by vitreous biopsy. PVRL or PCNSL patients with concurrent VRL can be treated with combined systemic and local therapy., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Tislelizumab is an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1) monoclonal antibody specifically designed to minimize binding to Fcγ receptors (FcγR)., Patients and Methods: Here, we present the extended 3-year follow-up of a phase II study of tislelizumab in 70 patients with relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) who failed or were ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation., Results: With a median follow-up of 33.8 months, the overall response rate by the independent review committee was 87.1%, and the complete response (CR) rate was 67.1%. Responses were durable as shown by a median duration of response of 31.3 months, and median progression-free survival (PFS) of 31.5 months. The 3-year PFS and overall survival rates were 40.8% and 84.8%, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) of any grade occurred in 97.1% of patients; the grade ≥3 TRAE rate was low (31.4%), and only 8.6% of patients experienced adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation. Correlative biomarker analysis showed that FcγRΙ-expressing macrophages had no observed impact on either the CR rate or PFS achieved with tislelizumab, which may be potentially related to its engineered Fc region., Conclusions: With extended follow-up, tislelizumab yielded long-term benefits and demonstrated a favorable safety profile for patients with relapsed/refractory cHL. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03209973., (©2021 The Authors; Published by the American Association for Cancer Research.)

Little is known regarding the outcome of lymphoma patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) using inadequate hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) doses. Fifty-six patients were enrolled in the study, and the cohort was subdivided into two groups according to the infusion dose: < 1 × 10 6 /kg (poor HSC group) and 1-2 × 10 6 /kg (unfavorable HSC group). Compared with the unfavorable group, the poor HSC group had a longer median time to neutrophil (13 vs. 11 days, p  = .007) and platelet engraftment (17 vs. 13 days, p  = .024). CD34+ cell infusion dose of < 1 × 10 6 /kg was the only risk factor for neutrophil and platelet engraftment. The expected 3-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates for the whole cohort were 53% and 66%, and no statistical difference was observed between two groups. In conclusion, inadequate HSC infusion dose did not negatively impact AHSCT patient survival but significantly prolonged the time to hematopoietic engraftment.

A 27-year-old male with HIV-associated naïve and high-risk Burkitt's lymphoma sequentially received short-term, high-dose non-myeloablative chemotherapy and autologous CD34-positive stem cell transfusion in the setting of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). Prompt hematopoietic recovery was observed after 2 weeks and clinical remission from Burkitt's lymphoma within approximately 30 months after transplantation. The HIV RNA load was inhibited persistently, and drug resistance was not observed. The CD4+ T cell count approached 323 cells/μL in a recent follow-up study. This case suggests that the use of intensive non-myeloablative chemotherapy with transplantation, combined with antiretroviral therapy, in HIV-related naive and high-risk Burkitt's lymphoma was tolerated and safe.