Nivolumab plus brentuximab vedotin for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Up to 40% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have relapsed or refractory (R/R) disease after first-line treatment with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone, and outcomes are poor after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation failure. CheckMate 436 (NCT02581631) was a phase 1/2 study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nivolumab, a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor, plus brentuximab vedotin (BV) for the treatment of R/R non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Adult patients received nivolumab plus BV in 3-week cycles. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). Here, we report the results from the R/R DLBCL cohort (n = 42).

With a median follow-up of 7.7 months, the ORR was 28.6% (n = 12), and 7.1% (n = 3) of patients achieved a complete response. Median duration of response (95% CI) was 3.6 (1.2-36.5) months. All patients experienced an adverse event (AE), most commonly diarrhea (n = 20, 47.6%). Grade 3/4 and 5 AEs occurred in 24 (57.1%) and 4 (9.5%) patients, respectively. Any-grade treatment-related AEs occurred in 35 (83.3%) patients. No new safety signals were identified.

Overall, the efficacy data from CheckMate 436 do not support the use of nivolumab plus BV for the treatment of R/R DLBCL.