LATE MORTALITY IN YOUNG BNLI PATIENTS CURED OF HODGKINS-DISEASE

A retrospective analysis was made of 1057 young patients (aged 15-29) with Hodgkin's disease (HD) who were entered into British National Lym phoma Investigation (BNLI) trials and studies between 1970 and 1992, a nd who had attained complete remission and remained disease-free there after from either their first-line (n - 774) or second-line (n - 283) treatment. Overall survivals at 20 years for those remaining disease-f ree from first-line and second-line treatment were 93% and 84%, respec tively, compared to a survival of approximately 98.5% in the general p opulation. In young patients cured by modern first-line therapeutic te chniques, long-term survival should in future be only a little below t hat expected in the general population, and the emphasis of future tri als should be directed towards the improvement of the efficacy of firs t-line treatment.