Nivolumab treatment in a pediatric patient with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma

Abstract

The treatment regimen for classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has been established. However, once cHL in some cases becomes refractory to chemotherapy or has relapsed, it becomes difficult to manage the disease with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, and the prognosis is extremely poor in such cases. We report the case of a pediatric patient with refractory cHL that relapsed after brentuximab vedotin treatment and high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation. Four courses of nivolumab (anti-PD-1 antibody) resulted in complete remission, and the patient has since been in remission for four years.