A global clinical trial successfully reduced toxicity and side effects in advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma patients by using a modified treatment regimen.

Mark Herzberg is a Professor of Clinical Haematology involved in clinical trials for patients with blood cancers, particularly lymphoma, leukaemia, and myeloma, in Australia and New Zealand.

Hodgkin lymphoma is a common cancer with varied symptoms, and treatment typically involves chemotherapy and sometimes radiation therapy.

Approximately 800 Australian patients are diagnosed with advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma each year, with staging determined through imaging and blood tests.

Advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma is treated with outpatient combination chemotherapy using two major regimens (ABVD and escalated BEACOPP) worldwide, with a global clinical trial involving nine cooperative groups in nine countries and 1500 patients.

The ALLG contributed 115 patients across 16 sites in Australia and New Zealand to a groundbreaking clinical trial.

A global clinical trial successfully reduced toxicity and side effects in advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma patients by using a modified treatment regimen incorporating a new drug, Brentuximab Vedotin.

Patients experienced fewer side effects, such as anaemia, low platelet counts, peripheral neuropathy, and gonadal toxicity, while preserving fertility, with the modified BrECADD regimen in the treatment of advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma.

Most patients with advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma remained disease-free after three years of treatment, with a significant reduction in toxicity and shorter duration of treatment, allowing them to resume normal life and work sooner.

Australian Health Journal spoke with Professor Mark Hertzberg in his role in the ALLG HD10 Clinical Trial and as a former Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australasian Leukaemia & Lymphoma Group (ALLG), an organisation involved in improving the treatments and lives of blood cancer patients.