Impact of individualized treatment on recovery from fatigue and return to work in survivors of advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma: results from the randomized international GHSG HD18 trial

BACKGROUND

Persisting cancer-related fatigue impairs health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and social reintegration in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). The GHSG HD18 trial established treatment de-escalation for advanced-stage HL guided by positron emission tomography after two cycles (PET-2) as new standard. Here, we investigate the impact of treatment de-escalation on long-term HRQoL, time to recovery from fatigue (TTR-F), and time to return to work (TTR-W).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients received European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and life situation questionnaires at baseline, interim, end of treatment, and yearly follow-up. TTR-F was defined as time from the end of chemotherapy until the first fatigue score <30. TTR-W was analyzed in previously working or studying patients and measured from the end of treatment until the first documented work or education. We compared duration of treatment on TTR-F and TTR-W using Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for confounding variables.

RESULTS

HRQoL questionnaires at baseline were available in 1632 (83.9%) of all randomized patients. Overall, higher baseline fatigue and age were significantly associated with longer TTR-F and TTR-W and male sex with shorter TTR-W. Treatment reduction from eight to four chemotherapy cycles led to a significantly shorter TTR-F [hazard ratio (HR) 1.41, P = 0.008] and descriptively shorter TTR-W (HR 1.24, P = 0.084) in PET-2-negative patients. Reduction from six to four cycles led to non-significant but plausible intermediate accelerations. The addition of rituximab caused significantly slower TTR-F (HR 0.70, P = 0.0163) and TTR-W (HR 0.64, P = 0.0017) in PET-2-positive patients. HRQoL at baseline and age were the main determinants of 2-year HRQoL.

CONCLUSIONS

Individualized first-line treatment in patients with advanced-stage HL considerably shortens TTR-F and TTR-W in PET-2-negative patients. Our results support the use of response-adapted shortened treatment duration for patients with HL.

Diagnosis and management of Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents, and young adults

Advances in the management of Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents and young adult have resulted in survival outcomes exceeding 90%. The risk of late toxicity, however, remains a significant concern for survivors of HL and the focus of modern trials have been to advance cure rates while reducing long term toxicity. This has been accomplished through response-adapted treatment approaches and the incorporation of novel agents, many of which target the unique interaction between the Hodgkin and Reed Sternberg cells and the tumor microenvironment. In addition, an improved understanding of prognostic markers, risk stratification, and the biology of this entity in children and AYAs may allow us to further tailor therapy. This review focuses on the current management of HL in the upfront and relapsed settings, recent advances in novel agents that target HL and the tumor microenvironment, and promising prognostic markers that may help guide the future management of HL.

Promising drugs and treatment options for pediatric and adolescent patients with Hodgkin lymphoma

Currently-available therapies for newly-diagnosed pediatric and adolescent patients with Hodgkin lymphoma result in >95% survival at 5 years. Long-term survivors may suffer from long-term treatment-related side effects, however, so the past 20 years have seen clinical trials for children and adolescents with HL gradually abandon the regimens used in adults in an effort to improve this situation. Narrower-field radiotherapy can reduce long-term toxicity while maintaining good tumor control. Various risk-adapted chemo-radiotherapy strategies have been used. Early assessment of tumor response with interim positron emission tomography and/or measuring metabolic tumor volume has been used both to limit RT in patients with favorable characteristics and to adopt more aggressive therapies in patients with a poor response. Most classical Hodgkin's lymphoma relapses occur within 3 years of initial treatment, while relapses occurring 5 years or more after diagnosis are rare. As the outcome for patients with relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma remains unsatisfactory, new drugs have been proposed for its prevention or treatment. This review summarizes the important advances made in recent years in the management of pediatric and adolescent with classical Hodgkin lymphoma, and the novel targeted treatments for relapsed and refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Adolescent and young adult enrollment to a National Cancer Institute-sponsored National Clinical Trials Network Research Group over 25 years

BACKGROUND

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer have not seen the same improvements in survival as younger (pediatric) patients and older patients (adults 40 years old or older). This may be related to their lower participation in clinical trials.

METHODS

This study examined AYA patient accrual to SWOG Cancer Research Network phase 1 to 3 clinical treatment trials for 29 cancers over 25 years (January 1996 to December 2020). Trial enrollments for AYA patients (15-39 years old) were compared with trial enrollments for older patients (40 years old or older) in SWOG and with US AYA cancer population rates derived from US Census and National Cancer Institute/Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data.

RESULTS

In total, 84,219 patients were enrolled in SWOG treatment trials, including 7109 AYA patients (8.4%); in contrast, AYAs constituted 3.8% of the US cancer population. By histology, the highest proportions of AYA patients were in trials for Hodgkin disease (825 of 1220; 67.6%) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (350 of 678; 51.6%), whereas breast cancer trials had the greatest number of AYA patients (3032 of 32,693; 9.3%). SWOG AYA patients were more often female (68.8% vs 58.7%; P < .001), Black (10.1% vs 8.2%; P < .001), and Hispanic (10.6% vs 5.6%; P < .001) than SWOG patients who were 40 years old or older, and they were more often female (68.8% vs 65.1%; P < .001) but less often Black (10.1% vs 11.8%; P < .001) or Hispanic (10.6% vs 12.8%; P < .001) than AYA patients in the US cancer population.

CONCLUSIONS

AYA patients with cancer were well represented in SWOG clinical trials in comparison with US cancer population patients with the same cancers. The SWOG AYA population was more racially/ethnically diverse than older SWOG patients, although it was less diverse than the US AYA cancer population.

LAY SUMMARY

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer (aged 15-39 years) have not seen the same improvements in survival as younger (pediatric) patients and older patients (adults 40 years old or older). This may be related to their lower participation in clinical trials. This study evaluated the extent to which AYA patients were enrolled in a large, National Cancer Institute-sponsored network group over 25 years (1996-2020). Overall, 8.4% of the enrolled patients (7109 of 84,219) were AYAs; this was twice the corresponding rate of 3.8% in the US cancer population. AYA patients were also more racially/ethnically diverse than older trial patients, although they were less racially/ethnically diverse than the US AYA cancer population.