Successful treatment with brentuximab vedotin for relapsed and refractory adult T cell leukemia

Although treatments for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in the past two decades have advanced, the current standard treatment for aggressive adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, particularly in patients who are not eligible for stem cell transplantation, remains inadequate; therefore, treatments to prolong the duration of remission and provide relevant benefits in terms of survival and quality of life are needed. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma tumor cells express CD30 in some cases and the increased expression of CD30 is considered to be one of the causes of constitutive NF-κB activation in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma cells. Brentuximab vedotin represents a major breakthrough in the treatment of CD30-positive lymphomas. Elderly patients treated with chemotherapy generally have higher rates of grade 3 or 4 adverse events; however a retrospective analysis demonstrated the safety and efficacy of brentuximab vedotin in adults ≥60 years with relapsed and refractory CD30-positive lymphomas. We herein report the clinical effects of brentuximab vedotin and the significance of CD30 expression in an elderly refractory/relapse adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma patient. CD30 expression is associated with disease progression in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma patients and brentuximab vedotin may be a new and promising treatment option for these patients. Further investigations on the use of brentuximab vedotin for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma are needed.