Dr. Smith Discusses Brentuximab Vedotin in CTCL

Sonali M. Smith, MD, Elwood V. Jensen Professor in Medicine, director, Lymphoma Program, University of Chicago Medicine, discusses brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

In November 2017, the FDA approved brentuximab vedotin as a treatment for patients with CTCL who have received prior systemic therapy. Data from the phase III ALCANZA trial was considered in this approval. Data showed that brentuximab vedotin induced responses lasting at least 4 months in 56.3% of patients versus 12.5% in patients receiving physician’s choice of standard therapies (P <.001). The data are very exciting, Smith says, and the drug is very well tolerated.

Smith says that this would be her first choice for any patients with CD30 positivity based on its targeted delivery, efficacy, and safety profile. Whether brentuximab vedotin is moved to the frontline setting is challenging. Smith says that this ADC should be tested in patients at the time of transformation. This is a very rare population, most of the studies are very small, and there are no randomized trials in the frontline setting, Smith explains.