Purpose: In an effort to minimize complications related to high-dose radiotherapy (RT), children with Hodgkin's disease are often treated with low-dose RT (less than 25 Gy) plus chemotherapy. We performed a retrospective study comparing the results in these children with those from children treated with higher doses of RT (30 to 40 Gy) with or without chemotherapy.
Patients and methods: From 1970 to 1988, 121 patients younger than 18 years of age with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's disease were treated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). Before 1977, most children underwent laparotomy and received high-dose RT with or without chemotherapy. Since then, high-dose RT alone has been reserved for pathologic stage IA and IIA postpubertal children without large mediastinal masses. In general, most postpubertal children with stage IIB through IVB disease or large mediastinal masses and all prepubertal children have received low-dose RT plus chemotherapy without laparotomy.
Results: The 10-year actuarial survival for all children was 86%, and the event-free survival (EFS) was 67% (median follow-up, 6.6 years). For 58 children treated with low-dose RT plus chemotherapy, 10-year survival and EFS (median follow-up, 6.8 years) were 88% and 67%, respectively. The corresponding figures for 10-year survival and EFS in 48 children treated with high-dose RT with or without chemotherapy were 88% and 66%, respectively. In children receiving combined modality therapy, the in-field failure rate was 7% for sites given between 17.5 and 22.5 Gy and 2% for sites given more than 32.5 Gy. In children receiving RT alone, the failure rate was 5% for sites given more than 32.5 Gy.
Conclusion: We conclude that low-dose RT plus chemotherapy has yielded results comparable to those with higher doses of RT with or without chemotherapy.