Camrelizumab plus GEMOX as salvage therapy for R/R cHL: Results from a phase II trial

For patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), standard salvage therapy consists of high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT); however, the efficacy of conventional salvage chemotherapy treatment can vary.¹ Camrelizumab, a humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody targeting PD-1, has demonstrated efficacy in patients with R/R cHL based on long-term results from a phase II trial (NCT03155425).¹ 

Here, we summarize results from a phase II trial (NCT04239170) assessing the safety and efficacy of camrelizumab, in combination with the gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) chemotherapy regimen, followed by auto-HSCT in patients with R/R cHL, recently published Liu et al.¹ in BMC Medicine.¹

Study design and patient population¹

• This was a single-arm, open-label trial
• Patients were transplant-eligible, aged ≥18 years, and had R/R cHL
• Patients received two biweekly cycles of 200 mg camrelizumab, followed by 4-week cycles of 200 mg camrelizumab, 1,000 mg/m² gemcitabine, and 100 mg/m² oxaliplatin on Days 1 and 15
• Patients with a complete response (CR) or a partial response (PR) following an additional cycle could proceed to auto-HSCT
• The primary endpoint was CR rate

Key findings¹

Patient characteristics

• In total, 42 patients were enrolled
• Median age was 34 years (range, 21–58 years)

Treatment response

Upon completion of the protocol therapy, the CR rate was 64.3% (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Response rates after protocol therapy* 

*Data from Liu, et al.^1
†Includes all patients who received at least one dose of the study drug.
^‡Includes patients with at least one posttreatment response evaluation.

Auto-HSCT

• In total, 29 patients (CR, n = 24; PR, n = 5) received auto-HSCT
• Of the five patients with PR who underwent auto-HSCT, four achieved CR following auto-HSCT

Survival

• After a median follow-up of 20.7 months, the median progression-free survival and overall survival have not been reached.
• The 12-month progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 96.6% and 100%, respectively.

Safety

Grade 3 treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 28.6% of patients (Table 1).

Table 1. TEAEs occurring in ≥5% of patients*