Current treatment strategies in Hodgkin lymphomas

This review will focus on monoclonal antibodies and small molecule inhibitors used in the treatment of newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Development of novel therapies is highly needed to improve treatment outcome of relapsed patients. New agents have shown to be effective and safe suggesting their use in combination with conventional therapy or with other targeted therapies in frontline and salvage regimens.

Approximately 9000 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma will be diagnosed in 2012, representing 11% of all lymphomas in the USA. Although considered a highly curable malignancy, a third of patients will not respond to or relapse after initial therapy. Second-line therapy typically includes multiagent chemotherapy regimens followed by autologous stem cell transplantation. Patients whose disease relapses after autologous stem cell transplantation have poor prognosis, with a median survival of less than 3 years.