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News — October 17, 2024 – Groundbreaking results from a clinical trial evaluating a novel treatment for advanced-stage classic Hodgkin lymphoma were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study, titled "Nivolumab-AVD in Advanced-Stage Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma," introduces a practice-changing approach that integrates checkpoint immunotherapy into the frontline treatment of adolescent and adult Hodgkin lymphoma patients.

Led by and conducted across 256 sites in the United States and Canada including Rutgers Cancer Institute and RWJBarnabas Health, the international phase 3 trial enrolled 994 patients to compare the progression-free survival of those treated with N-AVD (Nivolumab combined with doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) to the current standard of care, BV-AVD (brentuximab vedotin with the same chemotherapy combination).

The trial's findings revealed that N-AVD was more effective and generally better tolerated, offering significant improvement in progression-free survival compared to BV-AVD. Key results include:

, Deputy Director of Clinical Services at Rutgers Cancer Institute and System Director of Medical Oncology and Oncology Lead, RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group, co-author of the study, and a national champion of the trial for the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, highlighted the importance of these findings. "This is the first study in any lymphoma to integrate checkpoint immunotherapy into the frontline setting, and the results offer a promising new option for patients," said Dr. Evens. Rutgers Cancer Institute was also one of the lead enrolling sites for the trial.

For other authors, disclosures the full paper in the .