Feasibility Study of Simvastatin in Hodgkin's Lymphoma Survivors

With contemporary combined modality therapy the expected longterm survival of children and adolescents with Hodgkin's disease (HD) is exceedingly high. Thus, the emphasis for future therapeutic interventions must include attention to the late effects of therapy. The development of cardiovascular disease as a late effect of radiation therapy has been well described and documented. Our recent pilot study of child and young adult HD survivors revealed significant subclinical atherosclerosis as evidenced by increased Carotid Artery Intima Media Thickness (CIMT) compared to controls. The higher CIMT values were positively associated with increasing age, total cholesterol, LDLcholesterol and diastolic BP. This finding was present in children and young adults who had received no or low dose radiation suggesting that chemotherapy or the disease process itself contributes to the development of atherosclerosis and risk for cardiovascular disease. Numerous studies have shown HMG CoA reductase inhibitors ("statins") to be effective in reducing the progression of atherosclerosis in adults. These agents have been studied in children and young adults for over a decade.

The primary aim of this study is:

To obtain pilot safety data on the use of simvastatin in young adults treated for HD.

The secondary aims of this study are:

To obtain pilot data on the effect of simvastatin on subclinical carotid artery atherosclerosis as measured by Carotid Artery IMT in young adults treated for HD.

To obtain pilot data on the effect of simvastatin on markers of inflammation measured in the serum of young adults treated for HD.

To obtain pilot data to serve as the basis for the development of a multicenter randomized study for the use of simvastatin in survivors of HD.

We will do this by enrolling patients diagnosed with HD and evaluating the safety of simvastatin as evidenced by laboratory measures