Management of lymphoma patients in a cancer unit: An audit of 15 years' experience in a district general hospital

The objectives were to analyse data obtained in a district general hospital medical oncology unit over a 15-year period, and to provide a comparator f or standards of care for lymphoma patients in new cancer units. Prospective ly collected data were analysed on 208 consecutive patients presenting with lymphoma, on an 'allcomers' basis, between 1981 and 1996. Treatment was wi th radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, according to local protocols. The outc ome measure was survival from the date of diagnosis. The 5-year actuarial s urvival was 72.7% for Hodgkin's disease and 55.7% for non-Hodgkin's lymphom a. Age and stage of disease were the only predictors of survival in a multi variate analysis. Histological classification was not a useful predictor of survival in this analysis. Survival figures comparable with those obtained nationally and across Europe are attainable in a cancer unit. Multiple pat hways of referral of lymphoma patients operate in our region.