Af. Abrahamsen et al., CLINICAL STAGE-I AND STAGE-II HODGKINS-DISEASE - LONG-TERM RESULTS OFTHERAPY WITHOUT LAPAROTOMY - EXPERIENCE AT ONE INSTITUTION, Annals of oncology, 7(2), 1996, pp. 145-150
Background: We concluded a program in which we administered radiothera
py only to clinical stages I and II Hodgkin's disease patients at stan
dard risk, with the addition of 4 cycles of combination chemotherapy b
efore radiotherapy for high-risk patients. Patients and methods: From
1980 to 1991, 313 patients with clinical stages I or II Hodgkin's dise
ase underwent treatment in our hospital. Fifty percent of the patients
in groups previously identified as being at high risk for relapse rec
eived 4 cycles of combination chemotherapy before radiotherapy. The re
maining half of the patients received radiotherapy only. Results: Low-
and high-risk patients aged 15-59 years had, respectively, complete r
emission (CR) rates of 97% and 94%, 5-year survivals of 95% and 91%, a
nd 5-year freedom from relapse (FFR) rates of 78% and 89%. Older low-
and high-risk groups had CR rates of 97% and 93%, 5-year survivals of
60% and 56% and 5-year FFR of 77% and 93%, respectively. Conclusion: H
ere we present our favorable results after treating standard-risk pati
ents with clinical stages I and II Hodgkin's disease with radiotherapy
only. With the addition of chemotherapy, the rate of relapse in the h
igh-risk patients was reduced below that of the standard-risk patients
. Overall survival was the same for the high- and standard-risk patien
ts.