Nivolumab represents a novel option for patients with cHL refractory to brentuximab vedotin, and may serve as a bridge to transplantation; however, it may be associated with increased toxicity.

Conclusions: Nivolumab represents a novel option for patients with cHL refractory to brentuximab vedotin, and may serve as a bridge to transplantation; however, it may be associated with increased toxicity.

Cutaneous T cell lymphoma is a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative disorders with different clinical behavior and prognosis in which malignant T cells accumulate in the skin. In the relapsed/refractory stage, treatment strategy varies depending on clinical perspective. We retrospectively evaluated advanced stage relapse or refractory mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) at our hospital. The overall response rate was 25%, while the disease progressed and relapsed after transplant in 38% of patients. Allo-HSCT may be a reasonable treatment option in the relapsed/refractory stage.

The AETHERA trial reported an increased progression‐free survival (PFS) when brentuximab vedotin (BV) was used as maintenance therapy in high‐risk Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Thus, we aimed to determine the impact and safety of BV as maintenance after ASCT in real‐world patients. Seventy‐five patients with relapsed/refractory HL started on BV consolidation therapy after ASCT due to high risk of relapse, between January 2016 and July 2019, from 25 institutions, were included in the study. The median follow‐up time was 26 months. The most common high‐risk features were primary refractory or relapsed disease <12 months (n = 61), lack of complete response (CR) to the last salvage regimen (n = 51), and having had at least two salvage regimens (n = 29). At the time of analysis, 42 patients completed consolidation courses, and BV was discontinued in 33 patients. Fifty patients had an ongoing response (CR in 41, PR in 6, and SD in 3 patients), 25 had progressed. Ten died in the follow‐up, eight with progressive disease and two due to infection while in CR. The 2‐year PFS and OS rates were 67.75% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55–0.77) and 87.61% (95% CI: 0.76–0.94), respectively. Seventeen patients (23%) received BV in the pre‐ASCT treatment lines, and there was no survival difference between the BV‐naïve and BV‐exposed groups. The most common adverse events were neutropenia (27%) and peripheral neuropathy (21%). Sixteen patients (21.3%) experienced grade 3 or 4 toxicity. BV was discontinued due to adverse event in 12 patients. Consolidation with BV after ASCT can achieve a 2‐year PFS of 67.75% (95% CI: 0.55–0.75) with an acceptable toxicity profile.

Stem cells can be either totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent or unipotent. Totipotent cells have the capability to produce all cell types of the developing organism, including both embryonic and extraembryonic tissues. The Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) are the first defined adult stem cells (ASC) that give rise to all blood cells and immune system. Use of HSCs for treatment of hematologic malignancies, which is also called bone marrow (BM) transplantation or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) transplantation is the pioneer of cellular therapy and translational research. However, stem cell research field is developing so fast that, innovative approaches using HSCs for treatment of refractory diseases are growing rapidly. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been widely used to achieve cure in different hematological diseases. Applications include the treatment of marrow failure syndromes, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma (MM), certain inherited blood disorders, autoimmune diseases and as an enzyme replacement in metabolic disorders. Innovative approaches such as haploidentical stem cell transplantation, new monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapies as well as Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T cell) therapies are on the way as promising treatment options especially for patients with refractory hematologic malignancies and even in solid tumors. However, there are still some challenges remaining before some of these therapies are translated into clinical application. In this paper, HSCs including its properties, niches, clinical usage and its contribution to modern medicine today and in the future will be discussed.