What to Do With Success? The Optimist's Creed in Relapsed Hodgkin Lymphoma

Checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated remarkable efficacy in patients with chemotherapy-resistant Hodgkin lymphoma. However, it remains unclear whether these impressive agents have curative potential or whether relapse and death will eventually occur. In the present review, we discuss the options for a therapeutic dilemma that is likely to occur with increasing frequency, what to do for a patient with Hodgkin lymphoma who is responding to the checkpoint inhibitors? We discuss the 4 most likely considered options: continuation of checkpoint blockade, cessation of therapy with potential retreatment, transplantation, and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. These options will require evaluation in future clinical trials; however, we propose a decision strategy that could be of use to practicing clinicians until robust data are available.