Brentuximab Vedotin Monotherapy and Combined with Low Dose Donor Lymphocyte Infusion to Control Minimal Residual Disease and Sustain Clinical Remission in a Child with Relapsed Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma

Minimal residual disease (MRD) appears to have a strong negative predictive value for disease recurrence in children with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Brentuximab vedotin (BV) can be a therapeutic option for MRD-positive patients to achieve molecular remission and to decrease risk of subsequent relapse. We here report a 4-year-old child with ALCL progression during relapse treatment who received BV as a bridging therapy before haploidentical hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and as a maintenance therapy post-transplant alone or combined with simultaneous low dose donor-lymphocyte infusions. MRD monitoring showed a complete molecular response and reflected both BV efficiency and graft-versus-lymphoma effect.