Radiation therapy for early stage unfavorable Hodgkin lymphoma: is dose reduction feasible?

Abstract

One hundred and fifty-one patients aged between 3 and 70 years with early stage unfavorable Hodgkin lymphoma were included. Patients received 4–6 cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine) chemotherapy and involved field radiation therapy (IFRT). The most common histology was mixed cellularity (43%). The majority had stage IIAX disease. IFRT doses were 25.2 Gy/14 fractions and 34.2 Gy/19 fractions for adults with a complete response (CR) and partial response (PR), respectively, while the doses were 19.8 Gy/11 fractions and 30.6 Gy/17 fractions, respectively, for children. After 60 months (median), the 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 88.4% and 93.2%, respectively. On univariate analysis, prognostic factors with significant impact on PFS were age ≥ 18 years, nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) histology, extranodal disease and response to treatment. Extranodal disease had a significant impact on OS. On multivariate analysis, NLPHL histology (p = 0.001) and response at 3 months (p = 0.000) had a significant impact on PFS. There were no in-field relapses in patients with bulky disease receiving RT doses > 25.2 Gy. Chemotherapy related acute pulmonary toxicity was documented in 21.4% and 4.8% of patients after six and four cycles of ABVD chemotherapy (p = 0.041). Four cycles of ABVD and reduced dose IFRT resulted in optimal outcomes.