The management of stage 111a hodgkin's disease

Abstract Forty patients with pathological Stage IIIA Hodgkin's disease were allocated to receive either total nodal irradiation (TNI) or 6 cycles of chemotherapy with Nitrogen Mustard (Mustine), Vinblastine, Procarbazine and Prednisolone (MVPP) as initial treatment. The complete remission rate for both groups was 100%, with 5-year actuarial disease-free survival figures of 74 and 87% for TNI and MVPP respectively (median duration of follow-up = 48 months). Eighty-eight per cent of TNI treated patients were alive at 5 years compared with 100% in the MVPP group. Three patients died, two who were treated with TNI and one who received MVPP. Treatment related morbidity included one patient with osteonecrosis and one with a second malignancy. Given the length of follow-up available, these results demonstrate no significant difference between TNI and MVPP for patients with Stage IIIA disease; it is unlikely that further patient entry into this particular study will allow any conclusion to be reached regarding the optimal form of management. We would recommend that individual disease characteristics within Stage IIIA be used as a basis for future treatment decisions with the understanding that further information regarding morbidity may become available with prolonged follow-up.