TY - JOUR T1 - PD-1 blockade induces remissions in relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation JF - Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer JO - J Immunother Cancer DO - 10.1186/s40425-017-0211-z VL - 5 IS - 1 SP - 11 AU - James Godfrey AU - Michael R. Bishop AU - Sahr Syed AU - Elizabeth Hyjek AU - Justin Kline Y1 - 2017/12/01 UR - http://jitc.bmj.com/content/5/1/11.abstract N2 - Background Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and checkpoint blockade therapy are immune-based therapies that have activity in selected refractory hematologic malignancies. Interest has developed in combining these treatments for high-risk hematologic diseases. However, there is concern that checkpoint blockade could augment graft-versus-host disease, and very few studies have evaluated the safety of checkpoint blockade in the post-allogeneic setting. Here, we report the outcomes of three patients with relapsed classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma following allogeneic transplant that were treated with the anti-PD-1 antibody, nivolumab.Case presentations Three patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma relapsed following allogeneic transplant received nivolumab therapy at our institution. All patients were free of graft-versus-host disease and were off of all systemic immunosuppressive medications at the time of nivolumab treatment. Nivolumab was well-tolerated in two of the patients. However, nivolumab had to be discontinued in one patient due to development of immune-related polyarthritis requiring treatment with systemic corticosteroids and methotrexate. Objective responses were observed in all three patients.Conclusions Our case series demonstrates that anti-PD-1 therapy with nivolumab can be highly effective following allogeneic transplant for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but serious immune-related adverse events can occur, requiring very close monitoring and interruption of therapy.Abbreviations:AlloHSCTAllogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantCBTCheckpoint blockade therapycHLClassical Hodgkin’s LymphomaCTLA-4Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein-4DLIDonor lymphocyte infusionGVHDGraft-versus-host diseaseGVTGraft-versus-tumorIrAEImmune-related adverse eventPD-1Programmed death receptor-1PD-L1Programmed death ligand-1PETPositron emission tomography ER -