Adding nivolumab to standard 'AVD' therapy extends survival for people battling advanced Hodgkin lymphoma The new approach also comes with fewer side effects than the prior standard-of-care combo therapy Hodgkin lymphoma often strikes the very young -- people in their teens and 20s WEDNESDAY, Oct. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Jenna Cottrell is a young sports reporter working for a TV station in the Rochester, N.Y.
, area. She's also a survivor of advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, who first got diagnosed at the age of 25 back in 2017. After 12 rounds of the then standard-of-care treatment chemotherapy, "I've been in remission since 2017," Cottrell said in an interview at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
However, "the physical toll that it did take on my body, both, you know, mentally and also emotionally ...
it's a challenging journey," she said. That's why Cottrell is so enthusiastic about the results of a new clinical trial published Oct. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
It found that adding the drug nivolumab to what's known as AVD therapy (doxorubicin/Adriamycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) halved the rate of cancer progression or death for patients, compared to the former protocol of AVD plus brentuximab vedotin . The new "N-AVD" treatment also has less onerous side effects than the prior regimen, researchers reported. "I just can't help but feel so positive for future patients, because to hear about a treatment that works so successfully and is less taxing.