Other adverse events in the brentuximab and control groups were neutropenia (35% vs. 12%), upper respiratory tract infections (26% vs. 23%), and fatigue (24% vs. 18%). Two patients died within 40 days of dosing with brentuximab, one from treatment-related acute respiratory distress syndrome associated with pneumonitis and one following an episode of treatment-related acute pancreatitis that had resolved at the time of death, he reported.
Based on the results, study sponsor Seattle Genetics is expected to seek approval for brentuximab in this consolidation setting in the first half of 2015, according to a statement from the company. The ongoing phase III ECHELON-1 and ECHELON 2 trials in HL and mature T-cell lymphomas are looking at the use of brentuximab in frontline disease.