Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the most curable cancers — most patients diagnosed today will be long-term survivors — but the treatments that cure it can cause serious long-term health problems including heart disease and second cancers. Current research is intensely focused on achieving the same high cure rates with far less toxicity.
What's actually going on in research
Brentuximab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting CD30 on Hodgkin cells, is now combined with chemotherapy in front-line treatment and has improved outcomes for advanced disease. Checkpoint inhibitors like PD-1 blockers have transformed relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma, and trials are testing them earlier to potentially replace or reduce traditional chemotherapy. Reduced-intensity approaches guided by PET scan response are sparing patients from radiation who are responding well to initial therapy.
PET-adapted therapy
Trials use PET scans after the first cycles of chemotherapy to decide who can safely de-escalate treatment, reducing radiation exposure and long-term toxicity without sacrificing cure rates.
Checkpoint immunotherapy
PD-1 inhibitors have become standard salvage therapy for relapsed disease and are now being moved into front-line treatment, often replacing the most toxic parts of standard regimens.
Brentuximab vedotin
This antibody-drug conjugate delivers chemotherapy directly to CD30-positive Hodgkin cells. Trials are testing it in earlier disease settings and in combinations that may allow lower chemotherapy doses.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on disease stage, relapse status, prior treatment regimens, age, and PET scan response.
What types of trials are currently open
- Treatment trials — Testing new drug combinations or immunotherapy regimens in newly diagnosed or relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma.
- De-escalation trials — Testing whether PET-guided reduction in chemotherapy or radiation maintains high cure rates with fewer side effects.
- Transplant trials — Comparing stem cell transplant approaches for relapsed or refractory disease.
- Survivorship trials — Testing interventions to prevent or treat late effects like heart disease, lung damage, and second cancers.
- Observational studies — Tracking long-term health outcomes in Hodgkin lymphoma survivors decades after treatment.
Recently added Hodgkin Lymphoma trials
Cord Blood Transplantation in Children and Young Adults With Blood Cancer
The purpose of this study is to find out whether Cord Blood Transplantation/CBT as the first or second transplant is an effective treatment for children and young adults with blood cancer.
Full-course Immunotherapy Combined With Chemotherapy in Newly Diagnosed B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
This is a single-arm, prospective, phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the improvement of survival outcomes of blinatumomab combined with chemotherapy as a full-course treatment regimen in patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-negative (Ph-negative) B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The study adopts a "reduced-dose chemotherapy + full-course immunotherapy" strategy: induction therapy with reduced-dose chemotherapy combined with blinatumomab to improve remission rate and tolerability; consolidation therapy with alternating Hyper-CVAD (A/B) regimen，blinatumomab and sequential CD19-directed CAR-T therapy to deepen minimal residual disease (MRD) clearance; allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for some patients (e.g., KMT2A rearrangement, TP53 mutation, persistent MRD positivity, MRD recurrence); and no maintenance therapy. The primary endpoint is 2-year relapse-free survival (RFS). Secondary endpoints include 2-year overall survival (OS), the proportion and time to achieve complete response (CRc), and the proportion and time to achieve minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity. The trial plans to enroll 101 patients aged 15-65 years to demonstrate improved survival outcomes compared with historical controls .
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