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Classical Hodgkin lymphoma primary refractory to brentuximab vedotin, with transformation to CD30-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

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Abstract

Brentuximab vedotin (BV) is an antibody–drug conjugate that targets CD30. It is highly effective for relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL), and has become a promising treatment option for these patients; however, approximately 25 % of patients are refractory to BV. Until now, the clinicopathologic features of CHL refractory to BV have not been well understood. Here, we report a patient with relapsed CHL with an unfavorable outcome, whose disease was primary refractory to BV and was histologically diagnosed as a transformation from mixed cellularity CHL to CD30-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The transformation to DLBCL showing high tumor density and high proliferative activity (Ki67 index >90 %) was possibly related to the primary refractory to BV and an aggressive clinical course, although the lymphoma was diffusely and strongly positive for CD30.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the National Cancer Center Research and Development Fund (26-A-4) and the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C-25461442) in Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Shinichi Makita, Akiko Miyagi Maeshima & Hirokazu Taniguchi

  2. Department of Hematology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Shinichi Makita, Hideaki Kitahara, Suguru Fukuhara, Wataru Munakata, Tatsuya Suzuki, Dai Maruyama, Yukio Kobayashi & Kensei Tobinai

Authors
  1. Shinichi Makita
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  2. Akiko Miyagi Maeshima
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  3. Hirokazu Taniguchi
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  4. Hideaki Kitahara
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  5. Suguru Fukuhara
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  6. Wataru Munakata
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  7. Tatsuya Suzuki
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  8. Dai Maruyama
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  9. Yukio Kobayashi
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  10. Kensei Tobinai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akiko Miyagi Maeshima.

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Conflict of interest

Kensei Tobinai received honorarium and research funding from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.

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Makita, S., Maeshima, A.M., Taniguchi, H. et al. Classical Hodgkin lymphoma primary refractory to brentuximab vedotin, with transformation to CD30-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Int J Hematol 104, 396–399 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-016-2018-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-016-2018-y

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