Preventing Unnecessary Radiotherapy for Patients with Early-Stage Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

A new study suggested that patients with early-stage (stage 1a or 2a) Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease, who underwent three cycles of chemotherapy with the drugs doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD), and presented negative findings from Positron-Emission Tomography (PET), did not need additional field radiotherapy.

The study data was provided by a UK National Cancer Research Institute trial led by the University of Manchester (Manchester, UK) and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, and published in the April 23, 2015, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).


The study included a total of 602 patients. PET scanning revealed that the findings were negative in 426 patients. 209 of these patients received radiotherapy, and 211 patients received no further treatment. Patients in both groups were monitored for a period of 5 years.

The results of the study showed that patients with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma who presented with negative PET findings, and had completed three cycles of chemotherapy had a very good prognosis either with or without consolidation radiotherapy. The survival rate of the group of 211 patients that received no further treatment was 90.8%.

Leader researcher of the study, Prof. John Radford, based at the University of Manchester, said, “This research is an important step forward. The results of RAPID show that in early stage Hodgkin lymphoma radiotherapy after initial chemotherapy marginally reduces the recurrence rate, but this is bought at the expense of exposing to radiation all patients with negative PET findings, most of whom are already cured.”

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