Korean J Med.  2017 Aug;92(4):415-418. 10.3904/kjm.2017.92.4.415.

Complete Remission after Pseudoprogression in Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Treated with Pembrolizumab

• Hong J
• Bae J
• Lee SG
• Lim M
• Ko YH
• Kim SJ
• Kim WS

• KMID: 2392352
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjm.2017.92.4.415

Abstract

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a highly curable disease, but the prognosis for relapsed/refractory cHL is grave. Pembrolizumab has recently shown impressive effects in patients with relapsed/refractory cHL in a phase Ib study (KEYNOTE-013). This report presents a case of a 17-year-old male with refractory cHL who received multiple chemotherapy regimens and radiotherapies, including brentuximab vedotin. Following both the second and fourth cycles of intravenous pembrolizumab 100 mg (2 mg/kg), positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan showed progression. However, because performance status and fever improved, treatment was continued, and complete remission was confirmed by PET/CT after eight cycles of pembrolizumab. This case suggests that clinicians need to be aware of the potential for pseudoprogression in patients treated with pembrolizumab.

Keyword

Hodgkin disease; Pembrolizumab

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Drug Therapy
Electrons
Fever
Hodgkin Disease*
Humans
Male
Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography
Prognosis
Radiotherapy