Opdivo (Nivolumab) for Lymphoma

Overview
Opdivo is a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat cancers including classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Opdivo is indicated in cases where lymphoma has relapsed or progressed after either three different systemic therapies or autologous stem cell transplant and Adcetris have been tried. Opdivo is also known by its drug name, nivolumab.

Opdivo is used in immunotherapy for cancer. Opdivo is a biologic drug — a genetically engineered protein, or antibody. Opdivo targets the PD-1 protein on immune T-cells, prompting them to attack lymphoma cells.

How do I take it?
Opdivo is administered as an intravenous infusion once every two weeks or every four weeks.

Opdivo comes in the form of a single-dose vial.

Side effects
The FDA-approved label for Opdivo lists common side effects including headache, fatigue, fever, cough, rash, itching, joint pain, back pain, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, and upper respiratory infections.

Rare but serious side effects listed for Opdivo can include lung inflammation, gastrointestinal inflammation, liver inflammation, kidney inflammation and dysfunction, neurological problems, fetal harm in pregnant women, endocrine conditions such as thyroid dysfunction and severe hyperglycemia (high blood glucose), life-threatening infusion reactions, and potentially fatal skin reactions known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. In people who have undergone allogeneic stem cell transplant, Opdivo can raise the risk for graft-versus-host disease.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Opdivo — Seattle Genetics
https://www.opdivo.com

Immunotherapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma — American Cancer Society
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/hodgkin-lymphoma/...