PRONOSTIC VALUE OF BETA-2-MICROGLOBULIN I N YOUNG-ADULTS WITH HODGKINS-DISEASE

From 1977 to 1989, we measured serum beta-2-microglobulin (beta2-MG) l evels from 64 unselected and untreated patients, between 18 to 50-year -old, affected by Hodgkin's disease. Serum beta2-MG level was measured by radioimmunoassay (Phadebas beta2 microtest). Then, all patients re ceived a chemotherapy such as MOPP or alternating MOPP/ABVD followed o r not by radiotherapy. Elevated serum beta2-MG level (> 2.4 mg/l) is a ssociated with advanced stage disease (stage III-IV), presence of syst emic symptoms and bulky tumor. Nevertheless, a multivariate analysis s hows that the serum beta2-MG level is the most significant prognostic indicator for disease free survival. The prognostic value of serum bet a2-MG is demonstrated for myeloma and non Hodgkin's lymphoma. A few au thors have evaluated the prognostic impact of serum beta2-MG in Hodgki n's disease. This study requires confirmation by multicentric and pros pective trial.