Consolidation radiotherapy in the treatment of advanced Hodgkin's disease: is it dead?

Consolidation Radiation Therapy for Patients With Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma in Complete Metabolic Response According to PET-CT or Gallium Imaging

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of consolidation radiation therapy (RT) in advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in the setting of a complete metabolic response (CR) to chemotherapy (ChT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with stage III/IV HL treated with ChT alone or combined modality therapy (CMT) between 1992 and 2012 were reviewed. Only patients in a CR according to positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) or gallium imaging were included. Clinical end points were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and a multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model was performed.

RESULTS

Ninety patients were identified (46 CMT; 44 ChT alone). Median follow-up was 50 months. ChT (median 6 cycles) consisted primarily of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine; 74%) or an ABVD hybrid (10%). Post-ChT imaging consisted of PET-CT (71%) or gallium (29%). RT plans primarily included all initially involved sites of disease with a median dose of 21 Gy (range, 13-31 Gy). CMT was associated with improved 5-year progression-free survival (PFS; 88% vs. 65%, respectively; P < .001) and overall survival (97% vs. 78%, respectively; P = .002) compared with ChT alone. In multivariate analysis, age younger than 45 years (hazard ratio [HR], 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.07-0.74; P = .013) and CMT (HR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.11-0.96; P = .04) were independently associated with improved PFS. Secondary malignancies were comparable in both cohorts (5 with CMT, 4 with ChT), whereas cardiac events were slightly more frequent with CMT (5 vs. 2).

CONCLUSION

Low-dose RT, administered to all sites of original involvement, was associated with improved PFS, even in the setting of a metabolic CR after ABVD.

Consolidation radiation after complete remission in Hodgkin's disease following six cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine chemotherapy: is there a need?

PURPOSE

Combined modality treatment using multidrug chemotherapy (CTh) and radiotherapy (RT) is currently considered the standard of care in early stage Hodgkin's disease. Its role in advanced stages, however, continues to be debated. This study was aimed at evaluating the role of consolidation radiation in patients achieving a complete remission after six cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy using event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) as primary end points.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Two hundred and fifty-one patients with Hodgkin's disease attending the lymphoma clinic at the Tata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai, India) from 1993 to 1996 received induction chemotherapy with six cycles of ABVD after initial staging evaluation. A total of 179 of 251 patients (71%) achieved a complete remission after six cycles of ABVD chemotherapy and constituted the randomized population. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either consolidation radiation or no further therapy.

RESULTS

With a median follow-up of 63 months, the 8-year EFS and OS in the CTh-alone arm were 76% and 89%, respectively, as compared with 88% and 100% in the CTh+RT arm (P =.01; P =.002). Addition of RT improved EFS and OS in patients with age < 15 years (P =.02; P =.04), B symptoms (P =.03; P =.006), advanced stage (P =.03; P =.006), and bulky disease (P =.04; P =.19).

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that the addition of consolidation radiation helps improve the EFS and OS in patients achieving a complete remission after six cycles of ABVD chemotherapy, particularly in the younger age group and in patients with B symptoms and bulky and advanced disease.