The effective use of combined modality therapy for the treatment of patients with Hodgkin's disease who relapsed following radiotherapy

From 1969 to 1977, 124 patients with advanced staged Hodgkin's disease were entered into a treatment protocol which consisted of three cycles of drugs (nitrogen mustard, vincristine, vinblastine, prednisone, and procarbazine) followed by radiation (1500-2000 rad) to previous sites of known disease. After completion of radiation therapy, two more drug cycles were given. There were 63 newly diagnosed patients with Stage IIIB and IVA or B disease and 61 patients who had relapsed from prior radiotherapy. The median follow-up is now in excess of 5 years. Of the relapsed patients, 86.9% entered a complete remission and 90.6% of these patients have remained in complete remission from 1 to 10 years. In comparison, 81% of the newly diagnosed patients entered a complete remission and 78.4% of these patients continue free of disease from 1 to 11 years. These differences were not statistically significant. The 10-year actuarial survival - 79.8% survival-79.8% for the 61 relapsed patients compared to 65.6% for the 63 newly diagnosed patients - was not significant different either. The 10-year actuarial survival for the 40 patients who had relapsed to IIIB and IVA or B was 71.3% and approximated more closely those of newly diagnosed IIIB and IVA or B patients. This drug-radiotherapy protocol is very effective for the treatment of patients who have relapsed from previous radiotherapy.