Brentuximab vedotin, a highly active ADC as a new therapeutic option for CD30+ lymphomas

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (sALCL) are lymphoproliferative types of cancer. The chemotherapy regimens of HL such as ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, decarbazine) and BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophospamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone) have made the most curable malignancies. Unfortunately, 15–30 % of these patients will relapse again and treatment options become limited, so we need to develop new therapeutic approaches. ALCL has unique molecular and immunohistochemical features that make it an ideal model for developing targeted therapies. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), consist of an antibody, a cytotoxic agent, a stable linker and allow delivery of high doses of cytotoxic drugs to cancer cells while sparing normal tissues exposure to high systemic concentration of the cytotoxic agent. Brentuximab vedotin is an anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody conjugate with a potent microtubule inhibitor monomethyl auristatin E. In August 2011, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved brentuximab vedotin to treat HL after failure of autologous stem cell transplantation or at least two combination chemotheraphy regimens and for sALCL after failure of at least one prior multidrug chemotherapy regimen. With this approval, brentuximab vedotin is a promising ADC directed against the CD30 antigen.