Reducing the toxicity of treatments, the current challenge in Hodgkin’s lymphoma – Health and Medicine

2023-04-18 02:47:24

Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a blood cancer that especially affects young people between the ages of 15 and 30. “Historically, it is remembered as the first to be treated as a tumor and the first to be cured,” says Dr. Ramón García Sanz, hematologist at the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Salamanca and president of the SEHH until 2022. Thanks to scientific advances A high cure rate has been achieved, however, the challenge is to reduce the toxicity of the treatments and ensure 100% efficacy, especially in advanced stages.

Innovative lines of research are being studied to offer new therapeutic options. “Despite being one of the few cancer diseases with such a high cure rate, it is hard to see cases of patients who do not respond,” confesses Dr. Izaskun Zeberio, hematologist at the University Hospital of Donostia. There are still 2 out of 10 patients who do not overcome the disease. The availability of new therapies brings the possibility of improving the results in these cases closer. Dr. García-Sanz affirms that “these new drugs have helped to overcome resistance, avoiding high toxicity”.

Due to the profile of those who suffer from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, it is more urgent to respond to the unmet needs. “We have to ensure that the treatments interrupt the life project of the patients as little as possible. We want them to be so young that they can get their life back,” says the hematologist. Rubén, a patient who has overcome the disease, was only 18 when his diagnosis changed his life. “I had three relapses. I have suffered a lot of toxicity that has left me sequels with which I now live. However, we are lucky that it is a cancer that in most cases is cured and can be forgotten”, explains Rubén.

Patient associations play a fundamental role in supporting these patients. “Only by working together with the rest of the agents involved will we be able to continue advancing to reduce access times to innovation and, of course, provide a multidisciplinary team to the patient with proven and rigorous information,” says Marcos Martínez, manager of AEAL. , highlights the role of patient associations.

‘Journey to lymphoma’ is an outreach campaign promoted by Takeda, with the social endorsement of the Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH) and the support of the Spanish Association of People Affected by Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia (AEAL), which covers the past, present and future of the approach to this tumor from the perspective of physicians, patients and patient associations. “The initiative stems from our commitment to give visibility to patients with this disease from their own perspective,” says Dr. Andrea Naves, medical director of Takeda Oncology.