New drug combo shows promise against hodgkin lymphoma

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age: 18- 70 Years. * Histopathology: confirmed classical Hodgkin Lymphoma according to the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification. CD30 positive by immunohistochemistry. * Stage III or IV Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) by the Ann Arbor classification system. * Treatment-naïve. * Laboratory: * complete blood count: absolute neutrophil counts (≥1500 per cubic millimeter), platelet counts (≥75,000 per cubic millimeter), and hemoglobin levels (≥8 g per deciliter) (except for patients with involvement of the marrow). * liver function test: total bilirubin level \<1.5 times the upper limit of normal and alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase levels \<3 times the upper limit of normal. * kidney function test: serum creatinine level, \<2.0 mg per deciliter or creatinine clearance or calculated creatinine clearance, \>40 ml per minute. * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤ 2. Exclusion Criteria: * Histopathology: Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. * Cerebral/meningeal disease. * Prior treatment with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or any immunotherapy within 12 weeks of first study drug dose. * Known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive, known hepatitis B surface antigen-positive, or known active hepatitis C infection. * Known organ failure. * Cardiac: left ventricular ejection fraction \< 50%, myocardial infarction within 2 years of randomization or current uncontrolled cardiovascular conditions, including arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, angina, evidence of acute ischemia, or active conduction system abnormalities. * Female patients who are breastfeeding or having a positive serum pregnancy test during the randomization period or on day 1 before starting treatment. * Neurotoxicity, including symptomatic neurologic disease, comprising normal daily activities, any sensory or motor peripheral neuropathy. * Pulmonary diffusion capacity \>25 % lower than predicted value as retrieved by pulmonary function test for each patient before randomization. * Known hypersensitivity to recombinant proteins, murine proteins, or any component of the included drugs formulation.