Christopher Dittus, DO, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine and Clinical Director of the lymphoma program, is the senior author of a newly published study in the British Journal of Haematology evaluating a novel treatment approach for aggressive adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), a rare and deadly subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that primarily affects ethnic minority populations in the U.S. The trial, conceived by Dittus during his fellowship, sought to fill the critical gap in standard treatment strategies for aggressive ATLL.
The multicenter pilot study, conducted at sites in Boston and Miami, tested a combination of brentuximab vedotin with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, etoposide, and prednisone (BV-CHEP). Sixteen patients with aggressive ATLL were enrolled. Results showed an 87.5% response rate, including a 62.5% complete response rate. The median overall survival was 15.7 months. Notably, 5 patients underwent allogeneic stem cell transplant as consolidation, with 3 achieving long-term survival and an associated improvement in overall survival.