Stanford V Falls Short Against ABVD In Large Hodgkin's Trial

A recent randomized phase III trial, an intergroup study coordinated by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, looked at outcomes in advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma patients to see if there was a benefit in receiving the Stanford V regimen compared to the ABVD regimen with or without radiation therapy in locally extensive and advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Results from this trial indicate that the Stanford V regimen provides no additional benefit when compared with ABVD in patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Even though ABVD therapy remains the standard therapy in most Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, researchers are always looking to improve upon it, and this trial appears to be no exception to that effort. Ideally, doctors want to see less toxicity and higher efficacy.

A challenger to ABVD is the Stanford V regimen which was created to minimize both short- and long-term toxicity. Recent phase II studies indicated that Stanford V might be better than ABVD, thus a phase III trial was carried out.

794 patients with advanced stage HL were analyzed

399 received the Stanford V regimen
-- 95.2% were administered 12 weeks of treatment
-- 75% received radiotherapy

395 received ABVD
-- 88.6% received six to eight cycles (32 weeks)
-- 41% received radiotherapy

Toxicity results and risks of secondary cancers were found to be similar between both groups, although the Stanford V group experienced more grade 3 lymphopenia and grade 3 or 4 leukocytopenia, while rates of sensory neuropathy and motor neuropathy were also higher in the Stanford V group.

However, the big finding involved the 5-year Failure-Free Survival Rates (71%) and the Overall Survival Rate (88%), which were lower than what had been found in prior phase II studies. This led researchers to conclude that Stanford V was not significantly superior to ABVD.

Source: Hope For Lymphoma