Disease Briefing

Hodgkin lymphoma: research and therapeutic landscape

A live synthesis of what is being targeted, what is being trialled, which datasets exist, and where the actionable gaps sit — assembled from public APIs, with every figure traceable to its source.

Generated 2026-09-30Sources Open Targets · ClinicalTrials.gov · openFDA · GEO · PubMed · Europe PMC · iCite · RePORTERRanked 92 studies · 2,506 GEO samples
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Reorders emphasis only — nothing is hidden or loaded on demand.

Answer block

12 genes recurrently implicated in Hodgkin lymphoma — TNFRSF8, PDCD1, CD274, PDCD1LG2, JAK2, B2M, SOCS1, TNFAIP3, XPO1, CIITA, REL, MS4A1 — triaged for what can actually be aimed at them, alongside the trials, public datasets, literature and funding around the disease. Every figure below carries its source and retrieval date in the section it comes from.

3
drugs carry an FDA label naming Hodgkin lymphoma: Brentuximab Vedotin, Nivolumab, Pembrolizumab. This counts labels, not treatment — the disease is also treated with agents approved under broader indications
0
of the 12 genes above carries a drug approved in Hodgkin lymphoma — 94 drug entries reach them, 87 distinct once salt forms are merged, and 24 of those are approved for other indications. A statement about these gene targets, not about the disease
13
registered CD30 cell-therapy trials in Hodgkin lymphoma, 7 active and 2 withdrawn. Counted from ClinicalTrials.gov across 4 synonyms, deduplicated by NCT id, interventional studies only — the query is published in the JSON beside this page so the number can be re-derived
5
targets carry an Open Targets tractability signal and no trial in Hodgkin lymphoma that the searches found (no trial naming a drug Open Targets lists for the gene, none naming it as a cell-therapy target): PDCD1LG2, B2M, TNFAIP3, CIITA, REL. TNFRSF8, PDCD1, MS4A1 all have cell-therapy trials, so they are undrugged rather than untouched
300
human GEO series match the disease; 92 survive on-topic filtering, and only 4 are patient cohorts of 100+ samples
92
Europe PMC full-text papers name GSE12453 — the highest accession-mention count in the set. A mention is not proof of reanalysis, so read it as reach rather than reuse
$3.9M
NIH obligations in FY2025, down 38% since 2013 — while distinct core projects went 9 to 11. More distinct projects (+22%) rather than larger ones; core projects are not the same unit as laboratories

Target landscape

Open Targets · retrieved 2026-09-30 · weekly

12 genes recurrently implicated in Hodgkin lymphoma, triaged for whether anything can actually be aimed at them. The zeros are the informative rows.

Of 12 recurrently implicated genes, 7 carry any drug at all. That is a statement about these 12 gene targets, not about the disease: Hodgkin lymphoma does have labelled therapy — 3 drugs, listed in the next section.

Two different questions

The table below asks what can be aimed at 12 recurrently implicated genes. That is narrower than what is approved for the disease, and narrower again than what Hodgkin lymphoma is actually treated with, which includes agents approved under broader indications. All three are on this page and they are kept apart deliberately.

GeneDrugsApproval, and whether it reached this diseaseOpen Targets tractabilitycomputed from protein features and literature — a signal that a modality is worth trying, not evidence that it worksCell therapy here
TNFRSF8 4 Phase 2Brentuximab Vedotin, Hefi-1, Iratumumab, Sgn-3062 active of 214 Hodgkin lymphoma trials antibody, other clinical modality, protein degrader 7 active of 13 trials
PDCD1 across cancers → 26 5 approvedCemiplimab, Retifanlimab, Serplulimab, Sintilimab, ToripalimabApproved in basal cell carcinoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, cervical cancer and 9 other indications. No Hodgkin lymphoma indication appears on these drugs’ labels.76 active of 169 Hodgkin lymphoma trials antibody, other clinical modality, protein degrader, small molecule 2 active of 3 trials
CD274 across cancers → 13 3 approvedAvelumab, Cosibelimab, SugemalimabApproved in Merkel cell skin cancer, urothelial carcinoma, neuroendocrine neoplasm and 2 other indications. No Hodgkin lymphoma indication appears on these drugs’ labels.2 active of 10 Hodgkin lymphoma trials antibody, other clinical modality, protein degrader, small molecule —
PDCD1LG2 1 Phase 1Rhigm12B7No Hodgkin lymphoma trial of any of these drugs antibody, protein degrader —
JAK2 across cancers → 24 10 approvedDelgocitinib, Deuruxolitinib, Fedratinib, Filgotinib, Lestaurtinib, Momelotinib, Pacritinib, Ruxolitinib, Tofacitinib, UpadacitinibApproved in atopic eczema, dermatitis, alopecia areata and 8 other indications. No Hodgkin lymphoma indication appears on these drugs’ labels.2 active of 9 Hodgkin lymphoma trials antibody, protein degrader, small molecule —
B2M 0 No drug— antibody, protein degrader, small molecule —
SOCS1 0 No drug— — —
TNFAIP3 across cancers → 0 No drug— protein degrader —
XPO1 across cancers → 1 1 approvedSelinexorApproved in plasma cell myeloma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. No Hodgkin lymphoma indication appears on these drugs’ labels.2 trials, none active protein degrader, small molecule —
CIITA 0 No drug— protein degrader —
REL 0 No drug— protein degrader —
MS4A1 across cancers → 18 5 approvedEpcoritamab, Mosunetuzumab, Obinutuzumab, Odronextamab, TositumomabApproved in follicular lymphoma, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and 1 other indications. No Hodgkin lymphoma indication appears on these drugs’ labels.5 active of 84 Hodgkin lymphoma trials antibody, other clinical modality, protein degrader, small molecule 1 active of 2 trials

Dataset evidence counts studies in the 92-study ranked set whose title or abstract names the gene; the bar is scaled to JAK2. Sources: Open Targets Platform and NCBI GEO, retrieved 2026-09-30. Clinical stage is the highest reached for any indication — see the per-drug indications noted in each row. Target-prioritisation reference only; not clinical or prescribing guidance.

What is actually approved here

openFDA drug labels · weekly

3 drugs carry an FDA label naming Hodgkin lymphoma: Brentuximab Vedotin, Nivolumab, Pembrolizumab. Separately, 24 of the drugs returned for the genes in the table above are approved only for other diseases and reach Hodgkin lymphoma through trials, not through their labels.

3Labelled for Hodgkin lymphomaFDA INDICATIONS AND USAGE names the disease
24Approved, but for another diseasereturned for the genes in the table above
1Backbone agents listing itbroad cytotoxics whose labels name many tumours
7Active cell-therapy trials naming CD30of 13 registered

Every label that names Hodgkin lymphoma

DrugRoleWhat the label says
Brentuximab VedotinADCETRISLabelled hereClassical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) Consolidation ADCETRIS is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with cHL at high risk of relapse or progression as post-autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) consolidation.
NivolumabOPDIVOLabelled hereClassical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) • adult and pediatric (12 years and older) patients with previously untreated, Stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma in combination with doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD).
PembrolizumabKEYTRUDALabelled hereClassical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory cHL.
DoxorubicinDOXOrubicin Hydrochloride, Doxorubicin Hydrochloride, Doxorubicin hydrochlorideBackbonefor the treatment of: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic Wilms' tumor, metastatic neuroblastoma, metastatic soft tissue sarcoma, metastatic bone sarcomas, metastatic ovarian carcinoma, metastatic transitional cell bladder carcinoma, metastatic thyroid carcinoma, metastatic gastric carcinoma, met...

15 labels carry a positive indication naming the disease under indications_and_usage:"Hodgkin lymphoma" OR indications_and_usage:"classical Hodgkin"; they collapse to 4 distinct molecules once salt forms, biosimilars and co-formulated hyaluronidase are merged. Source: openFDA drug label API (api.fda.gov/drug/label.json), retrieved 2026-09-18. Labels change; this reflects the current label text, not the approval history. Not prescribing guidance.

Cell therapy against CD30

ClinicalTrials.gov · retrieved 2026-09-18 · weekly

CD30 is the busiest cell-therapy target among those this briefing searched in Hodgkin lymphoma: 13 registered trials naming it, 7 still active, 2 withdrawn before enrolling anyone. It has no gene entry of its own and is reached through TNFRSF8: the surface protein TNFRSF8 encodes, CD30, on every Reed-Sternberg cell; brentuximab vedotin carries a drug to it.

TrialPhaseStatusTitleLast update
NCT022595561/2RecruitingCD30-directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CART30) Therapy in Relapsed and Refractory CD30 Positive Lymphomas2016-01-28
NCT029170831RecruitingCD30 CAR T Cells, Relapsed CD30 Expressing Lymphoma (RELY-30)2026-06-10
NCT053528281ActiveAutologous CD30.CAR-T in Combination With Nivolumab in cHL Patients After Failure of Frontline Therapy2023-04-03
NCT042687062ActivePhase 2 Study Evaluating Autologous CD30.CAR-T Cells in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma (CHARIOT)2023-04-05
NCT04134325EARLY/1ActiveStudy of PD-1 Inhibitors After CD30.CAR T Cell Therapy in Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma2026-04-17
NCT066172861/2Not yet recruitingCD30 CAR T-cells Post AutoHSCT for Poor-risk Hodgkin Lymphoma2026-04-15
NCT075758931Not yet recruitingCD30 CAR-T Cells for Low Risk Relapsed Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma2026-05-20
NCT022745841/2UnknownCAR T Cells Targeting CD30 Positive Lymphomas (4SCAR30273)2014-10-24
NCT033839651UnknownCD30 Targeted CAR-T in Treating CD30-Expressing Lymphomas2017-12-27
NCT040083941UnknownAnti-CD30 CAR-T Therapy in Patients With Refractory/Relapsed Lymphocyte Malignancies2019-08-07

10 of 13 shown, most recently active first. Other targets searched: PD-1 (3), CD20 (2). Source: ClinicalTrials.gov API v2, retrieved 2026-09-18. A trial counts here when its registered conditions name Hodgkin lymphoma or a tumour-agnostic basket, its title names an administered cell product, and the title names this target: a HER2 CAR-T trial that adds a PD-1 antibody is a HER2 trial. A trial stating only a product code is missed.

Research momentum

PubMed MeSH · monthly

Every term below is a share of the Hodgkin lymphoma literature, not a count, because the field itself grew: 2015–2018 (n=1,827) against 2021–2025 (n=1,695). A topic whose papers doubled while the field doubled has not risen.

Rising, with a real baseline

MeSH term2015–182021–25ChangeShare now
Lymphoma1.15%4.9%4.26×83 papers
Progression-Free Survival1.04%3.3%3.18×56 papers
Denmark0.27%0.71%2.59×12 papers
Cancer Survivors1.04%2.6%2.5×44 papers
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local6.57%14.04%2.14×238 papers
Surveys and Questionnaires0.6%1.24%2.06×21 papers
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized1.92%3.89%2.03×66 papers
Cross-Sectional Studies0.66%1.3%1.98×22 papers
Lymphadenopathy0.66%1.3%1.98×22 papers
Quality of Life1.53%2.89%1.89×49 papers

Cooling

MeSH term2015–182021–25ChangeShare now
Antineoplastic Agents10.56%1.95%0.18×33 papers
Radiotherapy3.72%0.71%0.19×12 papers
Survival Analysis5.47%1.06%0.19×18 papers
Disease-Free Survival10.56%2.12%0.2×36 papers
Antibodies, Monoclonal3.89%0.77%0.2×13 papers
Kaplan-Meier Estimate4.43%0.94%0.21×16 papers

Biggest topics now

MeSH term2015–182021–25ChangeShare now
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols25.67%26.67%1.04×452 papers
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local6.57%14.04%2.14×238 papers
Doxorubicin11.0%13.33%1.21×226 papers
Prognosis13.63%12.27%0.9×208 papers
Brentuximab Vedotin9.2%10.68%1.16×181 papers
Bleomycin10.24%10.68%1.04×181 papers
Treatment Outcome19.54%10.44%0.53×177 papers
Vinblastine9.14%10.21%1.12×173 papers
Dacarbazine8.81%9.85%1.12×167 papers
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation8.76%8.91%1.02×151 papers

Publication mix

Type2015–182021–25
Clinical Trial0.1%0.1%
Randomized Controlled Trial2.5%2.4%
Review13.9%11.3%
Meta-Analysis1.4%0.9%
Case Reports0.0%3.2%

Query: Hodgkin Disease[MeSH Major Topic] NOT ("Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse"[MeSH] OR "Lymphoma, T-Cell"[MeSH] OR "Lymphoma, Follicular"[MeSH] OR "Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell"[MeSH] OR "Burkitt Lymphoma"[MeSH]). Terms need at least 12 papers in the recent window and, in the rising table, at least 5 in the earlier one — a term going from 1 paper to 12 is a large fold change and no evidence of anything. Ubiquitous descriptors (Humans, Animals, age bands) and the disease’s own term are dropped. Source: PubMed MeSH, retrieved 2026-09-12.

Disease burden

What the public sources count, and how closely each category matches this disease. The same figures for every disease on the site are on one table.

MeasureValueMatchWhat it counts
New cases each year8,920 cases/yeardirect2026
Deaths each year1,100 deaths/yeardirect2026
Incidence rate2.5 cases per 100,000 people per yeardirect2019-2023
Death rate0.2 deaths per 100,000 people per yeardirect2020-2024
People living with it240,775 people living with the diseasedirect2023
Median age at diagnosis38.0 yearsdirect2019-2023
median age at death72 yearsdirect2020-2024
Five-year relative survival89.3%direct2016-2022

Years of life lost (proxy)

4.3 years per case, 38,559 a year, from survival and age at diagnosis rather than from a death count. derived proxy Not the WHO/GBD measure, which uses age at death and a life table; comparable across these briefings, not with published YLL figures. What this costs to fund is in Funding.

3 assumptions behind this estimate
  • Five-year relative survival stands in for cure; a death after five years is not counted.
  • The median age at diagnosis stands in for the whole age distribution.
  • Life expectancy at birth (78.4 years) is the reference, rather than remaining expectancy at the age of death from a life table.
  • Each assumption moves the result by more than the difference between the two diseases currently on this site, so this figure separates a disease from one ten times its size, not from a close neighbour.

Funding

NIH RePORTER · quarterly

NIH obligations naming Hodgkin lymphoma, after removing the 1,987 records across all years that matched the search but are about something else. That filter is not cosmetic: without it this section reports another field’s funding as this disease’s.

$3.9MNIH obligations, FY2025from $6.4M in FY2013 · -38%
11distinct projects funded9 in FY2013
$15.1Mpeak year was FY2021obligations, all institutes
92%of FY2025 awards from NCI11 of 12

NIH obligations by fiscal year

$4M$8M$11M$15M13151719212325
YearObligationsAwardsDistinct projectsDropped as off-topic
FY2013$6.4M99155
FY2014$5.8M109187
FY2015$6.4M88157
FY2016$4.9M55142
FY2017$8.5M44143
FY2018$8.8M66190
FY2019$8.1M77155
FY2020$5.8M1110146
FY2021$15.1M1212148
FY2022$10.7M1312162
FY2023$12.0M98134
FY2024$9.8M1313138
FY2025$3.9M1211130

Where FY2025 money went

InstitutionObligationsAwards
Stanford University$0.9M2
Tufts Medical Center$0.7M1
Research Inst Of Fox Chase Can Ctr$0.4M1
University Of Florida$0.4M1
Rush University Medical Center$0.3M1
St. Jude Children'S Research Hospital$0.2M1
Beckman Research Institute/City Of Hope$0.2M1
University Of Miami School Of Medicine$0.2M1
Washington University$0.2M1
Utah State Higher Education System--University Of Utah$0.2M1

Text search Hodgkin lymphoma over project title, terms and abstract, per fiscal year. Awards are individual funding actions; distinct projects collapse them by core project number, so a multi-year grant counts once. The most recent year may be incomplete. Source: NIH RePORTER, retrieved 2026-09-19.

What that buys

Against 38,559 years of life lost a year, FY2025 obligations are $102 per life-year — $441 per case. The estimate and its assumptions are in Disease burden.

Who funds it, FY2025

The total says how much. These say who from, through what kind of award, and to whom — which a dollar figure cannot.

NIH institutes

NCI11 · 92%
NIDDK1 · 8%

Projects by administering institute. The rows above are the top 2 and account for 12 of 12.

Award mechanisms

R014 · 33%
K222 · 17%
R502 · 17%
R372 · 17%
K081 · 8%
R211 · 8%

R01 is an investigator-initiated grant; ZIA is NIH intramural, meaning the work happens inside NIH rather than being funded outside it. The rows above are the top 6 and account for 12 of 12.

Where it lands

Stanford University$0.9M · 23.8%
Tufts Medical Center$0.7M · 16.9%
Research Inst Of Fox Chase Can Ctr$0.4M · 10.9%
University Of Florida$0.4M · 9.8%
Rush University Medical Center$0.3M · 8.7%
St. Jude Children'S Research Hospital$0.2M · 5.4%

Share of $3.9M in FY2025. The top three hold 52%.

Public datasets, ranked

NCBI GEO + Europe PMC + iCite · weekly

300 human GEO series match Hodgkin lymphoma. Keyword relevance cannot tell a 142-sample patient cohort from a six-well cell-line experiment, so this ranking scores four things GEO does not expose: how often the accession is named in full-text papers, field-normalised citation impact, clinical annotation, and cohort type.

Composition of the 92-study ranked set

cell line 36unspecified 27patient 19mixed 10
36 cell line27 unspecified19 patient10 mixed41 carry clinical annotation15 carry survival4 patient cohorts ≥100 GEO samples2,506 GEO samples totalin 5 single-cell series the GEO sample count is the submitter’s unit (cells, libraries or pools), not patients

Established

high reuse, older
AccessionStudySamplesMentionsEurope PMCRCREvidence
GSE17920Expression data of diagnostic biopsy samples from Hodgkin lymphoma patients2010 · array1302522.9
patient cohortAPT 0.95survivalmolecular1,031 cites
GSE12453Origin and pathogenesis of lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma as revealed by global gene expression analysis2008 · array67925.3
APT 0.75molecular266 cites
GSE14879Gene expression study of anaplastic large cell lymphomas: cellular origin, pathogenesis and relation to Hodgkin lymphoma2009 · array642810.7
APT 0.95molecularCD30378 cites
GSE22208Integrative analysis reveals selective 9p24.1 amplification, increased PD-1 ligand expression, and further induction via JAK2 in nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma and primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma2010 · array48422.2
cell lineAPT 0.95molecularJAK2PD-1PD-L11,062 cites
GSE13996Molecular profiling of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma tissues2008 · array7374.3
patient cohortAPT 0.75survivalmolecular190 cites
GSE120124Expression data from 40 lymphomas (Hodgkin, B cell, T cell)2018 · array4030.7
patient cohortAPT 0.05survivalstagemolecularPD-1PD-L121 cites
GSE20988Cooperative Epigenetic Modulation by Cancer Amplicon Genes2011 · array1624.2
APT 0.75survivalmolecularJAK2221 cites
GSE25990Hodgkin lymphoma2010 · array16510.3
APT 0.75483 cites

Recent

2022 onward, by score
AccessionStudySamplesMentionsEurope PMCRCREvidence
GSE184662Radiogenomics features of tumor dissemination in ABVD treated cHL patients2023 · other12612.7
patient cohortAPT 0.9536 cites
GSE245920T cell states, repertoire and function in classical Hodgkin lymphoma revealed through single-cell analyses2024 · single-cell3810.9
patient cohortAPT 0.25survivalmolecularPD-1PD-L110 cites
GSE244989Circulating tumor DNA for monitoring classic Hodgkin lymphoma patients: correlation with FDG-PET/CT2023 · sequencing14211.2
patient cohortAPT 0.5molecular11 cites
GSE212902Histological subtypes drive distinct prognostic immune signatures in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.2022 · array6610.3
patient cohortAPT 0.25survivalmolecular3 cites
GSE211122Sperm DNA methylome abnormalities occur both pre- and post-treatment in men with Hodgkin disease and testicular cancer.2023 · methylation6511.7
APT 0.511 cites
GSE308257Role of non-coding RNAs in classical hodgkin’s lymphoma treated within the EuroNet-PHL-C2 study2026 · sequencing701—
patient cohortAPT 0.05survivalmolecular

Sources: NCBI GEO + Europe PMC + iCite, retrieved 2026-09-19. SubSeries are collapsed to one row per study by linked PMID. Of 300 series retrieved, 80 were dropped by the profile’s exclusion rules and 90 named the disease only in passing. The ranked set is a relevance-ranked sample, not a census, so the composition figures describe the sample only.

Where the gaps are

Derived from the sections above · recomputed on every refresh

Each card below is a disagreement between two of the tables on this page — a drug that exists but was never tried here, a target that looks tested and was not, a gene with no drug whose product has a busy clinical programme. They are computed from the same facts as the tables, so they cannot contradict them.

TNFRSF8

13 cell-therapy trials against CD30, 7 active, and no approved product. The clinical activity is real and none of it has reached a label.

B2M

Open Targets lists no drug against it and no trial in Hodgkin lymphoma names it. A bounded negative: the sources and search terms are in the JSON beside this page.

SOCS1

Open Targets lists no drug against it and no trial in Hodgkin lymphoma names it. A bounded negative: the sources and search terms are in the JSON beside this page.

TNFAIP3

Open Targets lists no drug against it and no trial in Hodgkin lymphoma names it. A bounded negative: the sources and search terms are in the JSON beside this page.

CIITA

Open Targets lists no drug against it and no trial in Hodgkin lymphoma names it. A bounded negative: the sources and search terms are in the JSON beside this page.

REL

Open Targets lists no drug against it and no trial in Hodgkin lymphoma names it. A bounded negative: the sources and search terms are in the JSON beside this page.

How a machine reads this page

Static

This page is written to be quoted correctly by a model as much as read by a person. The same facts are available as JSON at the sibling URL below, which is what to cite. The cross-disease layer — burden, genes, drugs and antigens across every briefing — is described at /disease/api.json.

Fully server-rendered

Every figure is in the HTML at first byte. No JavaScript runs, no figure is fetched after load, and nothing on this page requires a renderer to see.

Every number carries a source

Each section names the API it came from and the date it was retrieved: Open Targets (2026-09-30), ClinicalTrials.gov (2026-09-18), openFDA (2026-09-18), NCBI GEO (2026-09-19), PubMed (2026-09-12), NIH RePORTER (2026-09-19).

Negatives stated explicitly

Where the searches find nothing for Hodgkin lymphoma — no drug, no trial, no approval — the page says so in those words rather than omitting the row, and names the source searched. An absent row is unquotable; a bounded negative is the finding.

Denominators, not just percentages

Every share is printed with the count and the total it came from, so a figure can be checked rather than taken.

The filters are published

4 exclusion patterns are applied to free text before anything is ranked, because none of consequence is used as a model system in none: the Hodgkin lines are used for the disease. What was removed and why is stated in each section rather than silently applied.

{
  "disease": "Hodgkin lymphoma",
  "mesh": "Hodgkin Disease",
  "facts": "https://usebiotransfer.org/disease/hodgkin-lymphoma.json",
  "methods": "https://usebiotransfer.org/methods/",
  "all_diseases": "https://usebiotransfer.org/disease/api.json",
  "note": "Every figure on the page is in that JSON with its source and retrieval date. Quote from it rather than from the HTML."
}