CHEMOTHERAPY ALONE MAY BE AN EFFICIENT ALTERNATIVE IN THE TREATMENT OF EARLY-STAGE HODGKINS-DISEASE IF OPTIMAL RADIOTHERAPY IS NOT AVAILABLE

Because radiotherapy (RT) equipment technology in some developing coun tries is outdated, its side effects are more frequent and severe and i ts efficacy suboptimal, whereas chemotherapy (CT) meeting internationa l standards is generally more consistent. With this in mind, we treate d 29 patients with stages I and II Hodgkin's disease with the MOPP or the MOPP/ABV hybrid schedule without prior staging laparotomy. The com plete remission rate was 96%: five patients relapsed and of these, two died and three were rescued with CT, in one case followed by an autol ogous stem cell autograft. The median follow-up is 54 months (range 9 to 126), the overall survival of the group 88% at 126 months, and the relapse-free survival 72% at 110 months. Conventional CT alone has bee n shown to be useful in achieving acceptable long-term results. This o bservation could be important in circumstances where RT is unavailable or of suboptimal quality.