1.1
Pembrolizumab is not recommended for treating relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma in adults who have had autologous stem cell transplant and brentuximab vedotin.
1 Recommendations
1.2
This recommendation has been updated and replaced by NICE technology appraisal 967.
1.3
These recommendations are not intended to affect treatment with pembrolizumab that was started in the NHS before this guidance was published. People having treatment outside these recommendations may continue without change to the funding arrangements in place for them before this guidance was published, until they and their NHS clinician consider it appropriate to stop.
Why the committee made these recommendations
The marketing authorisation for pembrolizumab includes 2 subpopulations of people with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma:
people who have had an autologous stem cell transplant and brentuximab vedotin, and
people who have had brentuximab vedotin but cannot have autologous stem cell transplant.
There is no evidence directly comparing pembrolizumab with current standard care in either of the subpopulations. Indirect analyses suggest that having pembrolizumab after brentuximab vedotin may lead to longer progression-free survival than current treatment. This would increase the number of people who can have curative allogeneic stem cell transplant. It is uncertain how many people having pembrolizumab will be able to have allogeneic stem cell transplant and their long-term outcomes compared with those having standard care and this is a key driver of cost effectiveness.
NICE recommends nivolumab for treating relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma in adults after autologous stem cell transplant and brentuximab vedotin. The committee heard from clinical experts that the clinical effectiveness of pembrolizumab and nivolumab are likely to be similar in this population. The company did not provide a cost-comparison between pembrolizumab and nivolumab and so the committee based its decision on the cost effectiveness of pembrolizumab compared with standard care before the introduction of nivolumab.
Pembrolizumab meets NICE's criteria to be considered a life-extending treatment at the end of life.
Because of uncertainties in the clinical effectiveness and the modelling, the cost-effectiveness estimates are uncertain. Because of this, pembrolizumab cannot be recommended for treating relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma in adults who have had an autologous stem cell transplant and brentuximab vedotin.
There is an unmet treatment need for people who have had brentuximab vedotin and cannot have autologous stem cell transplant. There are no licensed immunotherapies for this subpopulation. In May 2024 NICE reviewed new evidence for pembrolizumab in this subpopulation submitted by the company and evidence collected as part of the Cancer Drugs Fund managed access agreement. NICE has therefore published new recommendations on pembrolizumab for treating relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma in people 3 years and over (see NICE technology appraisal 967) and recommendation 1.2 was removed.