Radiotherapy for stage I Hodgkin's disease: 20 years experience at St Bartholomew's Hospital

ACR Appropriateness Criteria on Hodgkin's lymphoma: favorable prognosis stage I and II

The treatment for favorable-prognosis stage I and II Hodgkin's lymphoma has evolved over the past several years. Studies have attempted to reduce long-term treatment-related side effects, such as second malignancies and cardiac toxicity, through reduced chemotherapy or reduced radiotherapy. Randomized trials have compared radiation therapy alone with combined-modality therapy (chemotherapy followed by involved-field radiotherapy). Recent and ongoing trials have evaluated the optimal regimen and number of cycles of chemotherapy and the optimal radiotherapy dose and field size as part of combined-modality therapy, as well as the elimination of radiation therapy. Combined-modality therapy represents the current standard of care for most patients with favorable-prognosis early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma. Chemotherapy alone could also be an option for selected patients who are at low risk for relapse and high risk for late effects from radiotherapy. This article reviews recent and ongoing studies on treatment for favorable-prognosis early stage Hodgkin's lymphoma. Representative clinical cases are presented, with treatment recommendations from an expert panel of radiation oncologists and medical oncologists.

Evolving role of radiation therapy for hematologic malignancies

Radiation therapy continues to play a paramount role in the therapy of hematologic malignancies, whether as definitive therapy, as consolidation after chemotherapy, as part of bone marrow transplantation protocols, or in palliation. During the past 2 decades, significant advances in radiation therapy have occurred, including the evolution of involved-field irradiation and the adoption of conformal radiation administration. It is hoped that modern techniques will reduce the long-term sequelae associated with radiation-based treatments.

Treatment of early clinically staged Hodgkin's disease with a combination of ABVD chemotherapy plus limited field radiotherapy

The current management of early stage Hodgkin's disease (HD) is usually based on clinical staging, combined modality therapy and the use of less toxic chemotherapy regimens. This approach entails high cure rates, while ensures less long term toxicity with avoidance of laparotomy. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a brief course of Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, Dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy followed by limited field radiotherapy (RT) in favorable clinical stage (CS) I and IIA HD. Forty patients, aged 17-68 (median 34) years, with favorable CS I and IIA HD, without bulky mediastinal disease, have been treated with 4-6 (median 4) cycles of ABVD plus limited field RT. Twenty seven (67%) patients received 4 cycles of chemotherapy, while 13 received 5-6 cycles. Thirty five (87%) patients received limited field RT with dose 24-36 Gy and five (13%) received extended field with 36-46 Gy. All patients responded completely to chemotherapy. One patient experienced a relapse two months after the end of therapy. All patients are alive; 39 in continuous complete remission. With a median follow-up period of 44 months (range 18-101) the actuarial overall and progress free survival was 100 and 97% at 5 years. We did not observe any case of secondary leukemia or solid tumor. Pulmonary toxicity was mild in cases of mediastinal irradiation. Considering the short follow-up time and the small number of patients, the combination of a brief course of ABVD plus regional RT is a very efficacious treatment of favorable CS I and IIA HD with mild toxicity. However, long term survival data are needed, which could give confident answers regarding the risk of late therapy related complications, particularly second malignancies.

Current therapies in Hodgkin's disease

Advances in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease (HD) have resulted in cure rates of greater than 80%. This remarkable achievement has occurred in the past 50 years secondary to improvements in combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Over the last several decades, with the increase in long-term survivors of HD, it has become evident that cure is not the only issue, and late side-effects of treatment, including secondary malignancies and impaired fertility, are of major concern as well. As a result, attempts to improve response and survival rates by intensifying therapy must be countered against the potential for long-term toxicity.

Mantle irradiation alone for pathologic stage I and II Hodgkin's disease: long-term follow-up and patterns of failure

PURPOSE

We performed a retrospective study to determine the long-term outcome, patterns of failure, and prognostic factors for patients with pathologic Stage I or II Hodgkin's disease (HD) who were treated with mantle irradiation alone.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

The medical records of 145 patients with pathologic Stage I or II supradiaphragmatic Hodgkin's disease treated with mantle irradiation alone between June 1967 and June 1991 were reviewed. Patterns of failure, overall survival (OS) rate, and progression-free survival (PFS) rate were determined. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify adverse prognostic factors for OS and PFS. The number of adverse prognostic factors per patient was counted, and a prognostic score was assigned to each patient. The log-rank test was used to compare the OS or PFS rates among patients with prognostic scores 0, 1, and 2.

RESULTS

The median patient age was 27 years (range 10-66), with almost even male to female distribution. Every patient had splenectomy and negative laparotomy (LAP). Fifty-one patients had Stage I disease (IA-49, IB-2) and 94 Stage II (IIA-89, IIB-5). The histologic subtypes were nodular sclerosing in 110, mixed cellularity in 28, lymphocyte predominance in 5, lymphocyte depleted in 1, and unclassified in 1. Twelve patients with Stage II disease had >/= 3 sites of nodal involvement. Fifty-four patients had a prognostic score of 0, 70 of 1, and 21 of 2. The median follow-up time for the 109 surviving patients was 146 months (range 25-381). The 10- and 20-year actuarial OS rates for the whole group were 87.6% and 65.3%, respectively. The corresponding actuarial PFS rates were 75.3% and 74.2%, respectively. Thirty-six patients (9 Stage I, 27 Stage II) had relapses in a total of 41 sites. Failures by histology were 29 patients with nodular sclerosing, 6 with mixed cellularity, and 1 with lymphocyte predominance. Failures by sites were: trans-diaphragmatic, 22 (para-aortic nodes, 15; as the only site of progression in 12; visceral, 7; as the only site of progression in 5); within radiation field, 8; marginal miss, 8 (as the only site of failure in 2); and unknown, 3. The majority of the failures occurred within 5 years of diagnosis. Long-term side effects of radiation included cardiac complications in 30 patients, with 10- and 20-year actuarial cardiac complication rates of 12.6% and 35.1%, respectively; secondary solid tumors in 14, with 10- and 20-year actuarial rates of 2.3% and 25.7%, respectively; leukemia in 4; non- Hodgkin's lymphoma in 4, with the 10- and 20-year actuarial rates for leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of 4.0% and 13.9%; and hypothyroidism in 38. Four adverse prognostic factors were identified for PFS: age > or = 40 years, > or = 3 sites of involvement, male sex, and constitutional symptoms. The prognostic score correlated with patients' outcome as indicated by PFS and OS rates. Patients with a prognostic score of 0 did significantly better than those with a score of 1 or 2.

CONCLUSION

In this select group of patients with pathologic Stage I and II Hodgkin's disease treated with mantle irradiation alone, the OS and PFS rates at 10 and 20 years were comparable to those reported in the literature. The major pattern of disease progression was relapse below the diaphragm, therefore close surveillance of the abdomen is warranted. The prognostic score used in our series may predict the patient's outcome, and might be worth testing in a prospective trial. In our series, patients with a prognostic score of 0 had excellent long-term survival, indicating adequate treatment with mantle irradiation alone. Late complications of the treatment pose a significant threat for the patient's survival with long-term follow-up.

Results of a prospective trial of mantle irradiation alone for selected patients with early-stage Hodgkin's disease

PURPOSE

To determine the efficacy of mantle radiation therapy alone in selected patients with early-stage Hodgkin's disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between October 1988 and June 2000, 87 selected patients with pathologic stage (PS) IA to IIA or clinical stage (CS) IA Hodgkin's disease were entered onto a single-arm prospective trial of treatment with mantle irradiation alone. Eighty-three of 87 patients had > or = 1 year of follow-up after completion of mantle irradiation and were included for analysis in this study. Thirty-seven patients had PS IA, 40 had PS IIA, and six had CS IA disease. Histologic distribution was as follows: nodular sclerosis (n = 64), lymphocyte predominant (n = 15), mixed cellularity (n = 3), and unclassified (n = 1). Median follow-up time was 61 months.

RESULTS

The 5-year actuarial rates of freedom from treatment failure (FFTF) and overall survival were 86% and 100%, respectively. Eleven of 83 patients relapsed at a median time of 27 months. Nine of the 11 relapses contained at least a component below the diaphragm. All 11 patients who developed recurrent disease were alive without evidence of Hodgkin's disease at the time of last follow-up. The 5-year FFTF in the 43 stage I patients was 92% compared with 78% in the 40 stage II patients (P =.04). Significant differences in FFTF were not seen by histology (P =.26) or by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer H-5F eligibility (P =.25).

CONCLUSION

Mantle irradiation alone in selected patients with early-stage Hodgkin's disease is associated with disease control rates comparable to those seen with extended field irradiation. The FFTF is especially favorable among stage I patients.

Long-term outcome of treatment for Ann Arbor stage 1 Hodgkin's disease: patterns of failure, late toxicity and second malignancies

PURPOSE

Radiation therapy results in excellent short-term survival in patients with early-stage Hodgkin's disease. However, the optimal therapeutic scheme that achieves the highest disease-free survival with the minimum long-term toxicity is yet to be determined. An analysis of the patterns of failure and late complications after radiation therapy was conducted to address this question.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

A retrospective study was conducted of 145 patients with Stage I Hodgkin's disease treated at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1967 through 1987. Follow-up extended from a minimum of 30 to 339 months, with a median period of observation of 16.5 years. All the patients were treated with radiation therapy and, and 16 received combination MOPP-based chemotherapy as part of their initial treatment. The radiotherapy technique, was involved/regional in 71 (49%), extended in 62 (43%), and subtotal nodal irradiation in 12 patients. The median total dose was 40 Gy.

RESULTS

The actuarial freedom from progression at 10 and 20 years was 76% and 69%, respectively. Forty of 145 patients relapsed (27.6%). The site of primary disease was cervical adenopathy in 30 (75%), axillary in 7 (17.5%), mediastinal in 2 patients and subdiaphragmatic in one patient. Twenty-two patients were treated with involved/regional technique (55%), 17 with extended (42.5%), and 1 with subtotal nodal irradiation technique. There were three in field and four marginal recurrences. Six relapses occurred in non-irradiated nodal regions at the same side of the diaphragm and 17 in non-irradiated transdiaphragmatic lymph nodes (57.5%). Nine patients (22.5%) relapsed with visceral disease. Nineteen patients (47.5%) relapsed within the first 2 years, 15 (37.5%) 3 to 10 years after diagnosis and the remaining 6 (15%) after 10 years. Eleven of 40 patients died of disease after the first or subsequent relapses (27.5%). Three of six patients with late relapses had progression in viscera but only two died with disease. Thirty-eight of 145 patients developed late toxicity from the treatment (26.2%). Twenty-three patients experienced ischemic heart disease (15.9%), only 13 of whom received mediastinal irradiation (9%). Fifteen patients developed secondary malignant solid tumors (10.3%). Nine of those (6.2%) occurred within the irradiation field (two were also treated with chemotherapy). Two additional patients, one of whom received chemotherapy as part of the initial treatment, died of acute myelogenous leukemia. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and lung cancer were the most common second malignancies.

CONCLUSIONS

Limited field radiotherapy results in a significant number of relapses in non-irradiated, especially transdiaphragmatic lymph nodes. Subtotal nodal irradiation can prevent some relapses and therefore improve freedom from progression. Careful design of the treatment fields may decrease the risk of morbidity and mortality from coronary artery disease and second malignancies in early-stage Hodgkin's disease. Careful long-term surveillance may permit early detection and management of late relapses and treatment complications.

Long-term outcome of treatment for Ann Arbor Stage I Hodgkin's disease: prognostic factors for survival and freedom from progression

PURPOSE

The earliest stages of Hodgkin's disease are associated with excellent short-term survival with radiation therapy. This has led to controversies regarding pretreatment evaluation, the extent of irradiation, the role of chemotherapy, and the relative importance of prognostic factors. Long-term results were sought to address these controversies.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

A retrospective study was conducted of patients with Stage I Hodgkin's disease treated at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1967 through 1987. The median age at presentation of 145 patients was 31 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.8. Pretreatment evaluation included lymphangiography and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy in all patients. Laparotomy was performed in 101 of the 145 patients (70%). There were 133 patients with supradiaphragmatic presentations; 12 patients had infradiaphragmatic adenopathy. Only five patients had B symptoms (3.5%). Histologic subtypes of the disease included lymphocyte predominance 17.9%, nodular sclerosis 40.7%, mixed cellularity 40.7%, and one unclassified Hodgkin's disease with primary splenic involvement. All patients were treated with radiotherapy, and 16 (11%) also received combination chemotherapy as part of their initial treatment. Radiotherapy techniques included involved/regional field in 49%, extended field in 42.7% (mantle or inverted Y), and subtotal nodal irradiation in 8.3%. Follow-up extended from a minimum of 30-339 months, with a median period of observation of 16.5 years.

RESULTS

The median survival was 13.7 years. The 10- and 20-year survival rates were 83% and 66%, respectively. The only factor important for decreased survival was age >40 years at diagnosis (p < 0.0001). Out of 43 deaths, 11 were the result of Hodgkin's disease and the remaining 32 resulted from intercurrent disease, including treatment-related causes. Median freedom from progression was 10.5 years, and the 10- and 20-year freedom from progression were 76% and 69%, respectively. Out of 39 relapses, 5 (13%) occurred beyond 10 years. Women had higher freedom from progression (p = 0.0534) than men. Age, histology, bulk of disease, site of involvement including the mediastinal presentations, and the addition of chemotherapy did not influence the freedom of progression. Although very few patients (12 of 145) received subtotal nodal irradiation, the freedom from progression at 10 years was 91.7% for this group versus 64.7% for the group of patients who were treated with more limited techniques.

CONCLUSION

Treatment with radiation therapy for patients with Stage I Hodgkin's disease leads to an excellent outcome, but patients require long-term surveillance as late relapses are not rare. Age is the only factor that affects survival, and gender marginally affects freedom from progression. Subtotal nodal irradiation may improve freedom from progression; further investigation of this treatment is justified.

Management of early stage Hodgkin's disease: the role of radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy

The treatment of early stage HD has become more complicated over the past 10 years. The development of standards for both radiation therapy and chemotherapy have made it more feasible to treat HD in community practice settings. Yet initial treatment decisions may have profound long-term effects on patients who are young and likely to have a long survival. Whenever possible, routine cases should be treated along guidelines of standard accepted practice, and physicians should refer patients to major centres for the management of more complicated cases. There is hope that less toxic chemotherapy will be effective in curing occult microscopic disease, perhaps eventually obviating the need for staging laparotomy and splenectomy. Yet for now, there are little long-term data defining specifics of treatment, or the long-term efficacy or toxicity of modified regimens. Thus at present, the management of patients with HD in ways that do not adhere to standard practice, such as modifying standard RT or chemotherapy, should be strongly discouraged outside controlled clinical trials. In parts of the USA there is still a general acceptance of staging laparotomy and splenectomy as a means to aggressively stage patients in order to minimize treatment. By utilizing diagnostic laparotomy and splenectomy, the majority of patients with PS IA-IIA HD will be cured with RT alone thus sparing them the toxicity of combined chemotherapy and RT, and preserving the effectiveness of chemotherapy in case of relapse. Using this approach, patients who are likely to need chemotherapy due to a high risk of relapse (LMA, or extensive B symptoms), or high risk for having abdominal involvement (more than one positive abdominal radiographical test) should not undergo a staging laparotomy. In addition, chemotherapy and limited field irradiation may be preferred under special circumstances (i.e. for paediatric patients). Diagnostic staging laparotomy and splenectomy is not routinely performed outside the continental USA. Academic centres in Canada, Europe and South America have identified prognostic factors to aid in determining treatment for clinically staged patients. Patients with the most favourable characteristics receive RT alone with CMT used for the remainder of patients. On average, without the information obtained at staging laparotomy, patients require more treatment, either with larger radiation fields, or with the more frequent use of chemotherapy.

Hodgkin's disease

This synthesis of the literature on radiotherapy for Hodgkin's Disease is based on 104 scientific articles, including 2 meta-analyses, 22 randomized studies, 5 prospective studies, and 58 retrospective studies. These studies involve 38,362 patients. The literature review clearly shows that radiotherapy is a cornerstone of treatment for localized Hodgkin's disease. At early stages, long-term survival is 80% to 90% when treatment is tailored to known prognostic factors. There is a tendency toward increased use of chemotherapy as additional treatment, however no evidence shows that it increases survival. To further improve survival following radiotherapy an attempt is being made to reduce long-term toxicity by better defining the patient groups who require lower radiation volumes, and delivering a dose that is as low as possible to avoid secondary solid tumors or delayed cardiopulmonary or gastrointestinal effects, while not jeopardizing therapeutic results. In advanced disease, radiotherapy may be needed as a complement to chemotherapy to effectively control bulky disease. For recurrent disease, radiotherapy may be considered as relapse treatment or additional therapy in conjunction with high-dose chemotherapy.

Management of early stage Hodgkin's disease: the role of radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy

Clinical trials in early stage Hodgkin's disease comparing radiation therapy (RT) alone versus chemotherapy (CMT) have indicated fewer relapses in the CMT groups. However, none of the trials have demonstrated an overall survival difference. Risk factors for relapse in early stages include large mediastinal adenopathy, fevers, and weight loss. Ongoing clinical trials might prove less toxic CMT effective in curing occult microscopic disease, perhaps eventually obviating the need for staging laparotomy and splenectomy.

Radiotherapy in early stage Hodgkin's disease

Ninety-nine patients with "standard risk" Stage IA-IIA Hodgkin's disease observed between January 1983 and December 1990, received radiotherapy only. The complete response rate was 98% (97/99). Twenty-one patients (21%) relapsed, 17 of whom (81%) obtained a second complete remission. The projected 9-year overall survival and disease-free survival were 95% and 78%, respectively. In this study our goals were to reduce the irradiation volumes, to decrease the number of splenectomies performed at diagnosis, and to utilize radiotherapy alone in these patients. We were able to reduce the irradiation volumes in over 50% and 80% of the patients with disease in the upper torso and subdiaphragm, respectively. Furthermore, this therapeutic approach permitted us to reduce the acute and long-term toxic effects related to splenectomy and combined modality treatment.

Treatment of early stage Hodgkin's disease

Current trends in the treatment of patients with Stages I and II Hodgkin's disease are discussed in this review. Recommendations for staging procedures and the updated staging classification are described. Long-term results with extended field radiation therapy overall and in subgroups of patients are detailed. As follow-up and numbers of patients treated with extended field radiation therapy have accrued, prognostic factors, predictive of outcome, have emerged. The evolution of combined modality treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy and, more recently, chemotherapy alone for early stage patients is reviewed. Discussion is made of recent programs in various centers to reduce toxicity while maintaining good results. Long-term potential toxicities are described, and recommendations are made for long-term follow-up monitoring.

Controversies in the use of diagnostic staging laparotomy and splenectomy in the management of Hodgkin's disease

Considerable controversy exists over the routine use of diagnostic staging laparotomy and splenectomy in the workup of patients with Hodgkin's disease. With the development of effective, and perhaps less toxic chemotherapy the need for staging laparotomy has somewhat decreased. In the United States it is still common to recommend surgical staging for early stage patients when the results influence the choice of treatment. Since 20%-30% of clinically staged (CS) IA-IIA and 35% of CS IB-IIB patients with Hodgkin's disease will have occult splenic or upper abdominal nodal involvement not detected by LAG, CT, MRI, or gallium imaging, staging laparotomy allows for selection of patients either to receive limited radiation therapy alone (most PS I-II patients) or chemotherapy with or without radiation (PS III). In Europe, Canada, and South America most patients are clinically staged without a laparotomy. Patients are selected for treatment with radiation therapy alone or for chemotherapy with or without radiation on the basis of clinical prognostic factors. This article details the current arguments for and against the use of staging laparotomy.

Radiotherapy versus combined modality in early stages

In early stage Hodgkin's disease the optimal choice of treatment for the individual patient is still an unresolved issue. So far, twenty-two randomized trials of radiotherapy alone versus radiotherapy plus combination chemotherapy have been carried out worldwide. The preliminary results of a global metaanalysis of these trials indicate that we still do not definitively know whether or not the addition of prophylactic chemotherapy up front improves survival. Arguments in favour of the addition of chemotherapy up front are: that laparotomy may be avoided, that radiation fields and doses may perhaps be reduced, and that the stress of experiencing a relapse is avoided in many patients. The major argument against the use of chemotherapy up front is: that by careful staging and selection of patients and by careful radiotherapy techniques the number of patients exposed to potentially toxic chemotherapy may be kept at a minimum. Recently, trials have been carried out testing chemotherapy alone. The results of these trials are however conflicting. In order not to jeopardize the good results achieved with the standard treatments developed over the last three decades, newer treatment approaches should be carefully tested in large randomized trials before being implemented for general clinical use.

Management of stage II Hodgkin's disease: 15 years experience at St. Bartholomew's Hospital

One hundred seventy-seven consecutive patients with newly diagnosed stage II Hodgkin's disease (HD) (supradragmatic 157; infra diaphragmatic 20) were treated at St. Bartholomew's Hospital on the basis of pathologic stage (PS) in 84 (IIA 69; IIB 15) and clinical stage (CS) in 93 (IIA 33, IIB 60) between January 1968 and December 1984. The median follow up is 13 years. Overall, complete remission (CR) was achieved in 143 patients (75%) of whom 53 have had a recurrence. One hundred twenty-seven patients remain alive, the cumulative predicted survival at 15 yrs being 70%. Mantle radiotherapy was prescribed to 88 patients with supradiaphragmatic HD, of whom 75 entered CR and 9 achieved good partial remission (GPR) (95%). The duration of remission correlated strongly with ESR (greater than 50 mm/h) and mediastinal thoracic ratio (less than 33% vs. greater than 33%) in a multivariate analysis (p = 0.05 and 0.02, respectively). 46/88 patients remain in continuous first remission, the median duration of remission having not reached at 15 years. Combined modality therapy or chemotherapy alone was prescribed to 69 patients with supradiaphragmatic HD, CR being achieved in 51 patients and GPR in 8 at the completion of all therapy. 48/59 patients continue in first remission. The duration of remission of patients receiving combined modality therapy or CT alone was significantly longer (p = 0.002) than that of patients receiving RT alone, in spite of the fact that the former group comprised predominantly of patients with unfavourable features.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chemotherapy of Hodgkin's disease

An overall perspective of chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease has been presented with particular emphasis on the treatment options to be considered at each stage of the disease. In 1950, M. Vera Peters ended her paper on the 'radiological' treatment of Hodgkin's disease thus: 'In the light of present knowledge the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease should not be regarded with despair and the patient treated as incurable.... If a single ray of hope emerges from this analysis, the treatment of the individual concerned is a challenge to the combined efforts of the radiotherapist, the physician and the surgeon' (Peters, 1950). Over the ensuing 40 years, substantial progress has been made, but any further improvement must begin with an increase in the proportion of patients for whom complete remission is achieved. Prospective comparisons of hybrid regimens against standard chemotherapy are in progress and the results of these trials will hopefully answer the question as to which is the optimal regimen in the primary treatment of advanced Hodgkin's disease. The advent of growth factors may allow for an increase in dose intensity, possibly improving the results further. The role of very intensive therapy with autologous bone marrow support remains to be defined and is currently being evaluated in different trial settings. Meanwhile, the quest for alternative, less toxic compounds goes on. The challenge continues.