Chemotherapy for classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) patients on hemodialysis (HD) is an extremely challenging situation because pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of most chemotherapeutics are lacking for the HD patient, and the small amount of evidence available comes mostly from case reports and small case series. In this review, we provide recommendations based on treatment experience of cHL patients on HD in the literature. HD patients undergoing chemotherapy are at risk of overdose and toxicities because many drugs are significantly eliminated by the kidneys, and at the same time, are at risk of undertreatment because many drugs are removed by HD. Therefore, dose modifications and timing of drug administration in relation to HD sessions must be carefully planned according to the distinct traits of each chemotherapeutic. We carried out an exhaustive literature review of reports of actual administrations of chemotherapeutics to cHL on HD, and also extrapolated data from reports of the same chemotherapeutics that were administered to HD patients with malignancies other than cHL. We summarized the information found in the literature, and provide practical and balanced recommendations concerning dose modifications and optimal timing of drug administration in relation to HD sessions for each chemotherapeutic. Chemotherapy regimens and individual chemotherapeutics studied in this review include ABVD (doxorubicin + bleomycin + vinblastine + dacarbazine), BEACOPP (bleomycin + etoposide + doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide + vincristine + procarbazine + prednisolone), MOPP (mechlorethamine + vincristine + procarbazine + prednisolone), gemcitabine, vinorelbine, brentuximab vedotin, and PD-1 inhibitors (nivolumab and pembrolizumab).
Keywords: ABVD; Chemotherapy; End stage kidney disease; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Renal replacement therapy.
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