At the world’s largest blood cancer conference (ASH), currently underway in the United States, a major development from Israel is being presented: an innovative treatment for lymphoma that has yielded impressive survival rates of 100%. The large-scale Israeli study was conducted across 15 medical centers in the country and examined a new therapeutic approach for advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma. Its findings surprised even the most experienced researchers in the field.
The treatment, which combines advanced chemotherapy with targeted biological therapy, produced exceptional success rates: 95% of patients achieved a complete response, and 83% showed near-total disease disappearance after just two treatment cycles. These are particularly impressive results, matching or even surpassing those of international clinical trials.
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Innovative lymphoma treatment yields impressive 100% survival rate
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The study also found that only 4% of patients required additional radiation therapy — a significantly lower rate than in the past. Most side effects were manageable, and the one-year survival rate reached 100%. The findings place Israel at the forefront of global lymphoma treatment and highlight how collaboration between public medical centers can lead to meaningful breakthroughs for patients.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a malignancy of the lymphatic system. It accounts for about 10% of all lymphoma cases and is especially common among young adults. The disease typically presents with swollen lymph nodes and may also include so-called “B symptoms” such as fever, night sweats and weight loss. Diagnosis is made through a biopsy of an affected lymph node, and disease staging is done using a PET-CT scan. Treatment is tailored to the stage of the disease and generally includes a combination of chemotherapy and biological drugs, sometimes with the addition of radiation. It is considered a highly curable cancer, with cure rates exceeding 85%, and even in cases of relapse, effective treatment options exist.
Dr. Tzofia LevyPhoto: CourtesyThe study was led by Dr. Zvi Forgas, a senior physician in the Hematology Institute at Soroka Medical Center, and Dr. Tzofia Levy, a senior physician in the Hematology Division at Rambam Health Care Campus, who is also presenting the findings at the conference. “The new treatment protocol represents a true revolution in Hodgkin lymphoma care,” she said. “It enables patients to achieve full disease control — and in some cases, even a cure — in just nine weeks. In most patients, signs of the cancer disappeared early in the process, and by the end of treatment, there was little to no evidence of disease.”
She added, “Our study brings Israeli experience to the global stage for the first time and presents a unified, comprehensive picture from all of the country’s medical centers. Presenting the study at the ASH conference with a broad Israeli team highlights Israel’s leading role in the field of hematology.”
When research meets real life
Dr. Roy Vitkon, a senior physician specializing in internal medicine and hematology at Ichilov Medical Center, noted that in 2024, the journal The Lancet published a large German study introducing a new first-line treatment protocol for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. “The protocol raised high expectations — and indeed, the results were particularly impressive. The researchers showed it was possible to achieve cure rates of nearly 100%.”
Dr. Roy VitkonPhoto: The American Society of Hematology (ASH)According to Dr. Vitkon, the uniqueness of the new protocol lies not only in its high efficacy but also in its side effect profile. “The previous protocol used until then was associated with very severe side effects. The new one showed not only high effectiveness but also much better tolerability, making it suitable for the majority of patients.”
As is often the case, there can be a gap between the outcomes of controlled clinical trials and what happens in real-world practice. For that reason, studies known as Real World Data are typically conducted following major publications, collecting data from everyday clinical settings to determine whether the impressive results hold up in practice.
In Israel, through broad collaboration among medical centers nationwide, data were collected from nearly 100 patients who received the new protocol over the past year or two. “In fact, we were the first in the world to publish Real World data on this protocol,” said Dr. Vitkon. “The ability to achieve such wide collaboration across so many centers is a remarkable achievement in itself — and the results were outstanding.”
The Israeli study findings fully confirmed those of the German study published in The Lancet, providing strong support and motivation to continue offering the treatment.
Dr. Vitkon notes that the findings show Israel is among the first countries in the world to put new research into practice by updating treatment protocols for Hodgkin lymphoma. "The Israeli study will be presented this week at the American ASH conference — the world’s largest and most influential event in the field of hematology."