Lymphomas are cancers of the lymphatic system and affect one in 5,000 people. In general, they have a high chance of recovery if detected early. Now a team of researchers in Israel has made a significant breakthrough: complete remission in advanced stage patients.
The research focused particularly on the Hodgkin lymphomawhich is less common than non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The difference between the two lies in the type of lymphocytes involved – an important part of the immune system. Hodgkin lymphoma It tends to affect young adults and occurs mainly in the upper part of the body, such as the armpits, neck or chest.
Chemotherapy is traditionally used for patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. But with the development of new drugs, so-called targeted therapies emerged, much more specific and with fewer side effects.
The team at Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv has carefully evaluated the results of these therapies, a so-called treatment BrECADDan acronym made up of the combination of the names of the six drugs used. This protocol combines advanced chemotherapies with monoclonal antibodies conjugated to the chemotherapy drug go directly to the cells attack without damaging the rest.
The analysis was presented this week at the Congress American Society of Hematologythe world’s most important event in this field. The Israeli specialists used so-called “real-world evidence”, i.e. data from patients who received the treatment in 15 health centers in Israel. They followed 79 people for two years 83% were diagnosed at stage IV, the most advanced.
The result was surprising even for the researchers themselves: the one-year survival rate was 100% and 95% of patients experienced a complete response, far higher than observed in clinical trials.
Other relevant data was that the “complete metabolic response”, i.e. complete remission, was observed in the majority of patients after only two treatment cycles, i.e. in just nine weeks. And also, only 4% of patients required radiation therapyanother important point to reduce toxic effects.
“This new treatment protocol represents a real revolution in the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma. It allows patients to gain complete control of the disease and, in some cases, even achieve a cure in as little as nine weeks. In most patients, signs of cancer disappeared early and at the end of treatment There was little or no evidence of the diseaseTzofia Levy, a hematologist at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa and one of the study participants, told Israeli media.
Roy Vitkon is another specialist who took part. A hematologist and internist at Ichilov Medical Center, he read last year in The Lancet about a German study that presented a first-line treatment for these advanced lymphomas. The results were promisingThat is why it is very important for the expert to have this confirmed in practice.
“We are the first to publish real data on this protocol. “The ability to achieve this collaboration between so many centers is remarkable in itself and the results have been extraordinary,” he noted.
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