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The CD30-targeting Ab-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) was re-cently approved for the treatment of re-lapsed Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplas-tic large-cell lymphoma by the Food and Drug Administration. In the present study, we report the experience of the German Hodgkin Study Group with brentuximab vedotin as single agent In 45 patients with refractory or relapsed CD30+ Hodgkin lymphoma who were treated either in a named patient program (n = 34) or in the context of a safety study associated with the registration program of this drug. In these very heavily pretreated patients, an objective response rate of 60%, Including 22% complete remissions, could be docu-mented. The median duration of response was 8 months. This retrospective analy-sis supports the previously reported ex-cellent therapeutic efficacy of brentux-imab vedotin in heavily pretreated CD30+ malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal variations in incidence and mortality after a Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) diagnosis have been previously described with partly conflicting results. The goal of this analysis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of these seasonal variations. In total, 41,405 HL cases diagnosed between 1973 and 2012 in the 18 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries were included. Cosinor analysis and Cox proportional-hazards models were employed to analyze seasonality of incidence and mortality, respectively. HL shows a sinusoid seasonal incidence pattern (p < 0.001). Estimated incidence in March is 15.4% [95%-CI: 10.8-20.0] higher than in September. This sinusoid pattern is more pronounced at higher latitudes (p = 0.023). The risk of dying within the first three years after a HL diagnosis in winter is significantly increased compared to a HL diagnosis in summer at higher latitudes (HR = 1.082 [95%-CI: 1.009-1.161], p = 0.027). Furthermore, increasing northern latitude increases the additional mortality risk conferred by a diagnosis in winter (p interaction 0.033). The seasonality patterns presented here provide epidemiological evidence that Vitamin D might play a protective role in HL. Further evidence on the direct association between Vitamin D levels and the clinical course of HL needs to be collected to advance the understanding of the role of Vitamin D in HL.

Cancer and cancer therapy-associated anemia may have an impact on tumor response and overall survival. Additionally, anemia represents an important economic factor. Therefore, therapeutic alternatives such as erythropoietin (EPO) and red blood cell transfusions have to be evaluated systematically. The effectiveness of recombinant human EPO to prevent or alleviate anemia in patients with malignant disease was determined. Randomized controlled trials comparing prophylaxis or treatment of anemia with EPO plus red blood cell transfusion (RBCT) or RBCT only in patients with malignant disease undergoing antineoplastic therapy were included. The endpoints needed for RBCT were hematological response (hemoglobin increase of 2g/dL or hematocrit increase of 6%), tumor response, and overall survival. Medical databases (Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE) and conference proceedings were searched (1985-2001). Full-text and abstract publications were included as well as unpublished data. Data extraction and quality assessment were done in duplicate. All authors were contacted to obtain missing data. Out of 33 eligible studies, 27 trials with 3,287 randomized patients were included.