Purpose: Nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin's lymphoma is a very rare disease, characterized by an indolent clinical course, with sometimes very late relapses occurring in a minority of all patients. Considerable discussion is ongoing on the treatment of primary and relapsed disease.
Patients and methods: A group of 9 patients were irradiated to a dose of 4 Gy on involved areas only.
Results: After a median follow-up of 37 months (range, 6-66), the overall response rate was 89%. Six patients had complete remission (67%), two had partial remission (22%), and one had stable disease (11%). Of 8 patients, 5 developed local relapse 9-57 months after radiotherapy. No toxicity was noted.
Conclusion: In nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin's lymphoma, low-dose radiotherapy provided excellent response rates and lasting remissions without significant toxicity.