Does radiotherapy reduce the risk of recurrence in patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma?

This study looked at whether radiotherapy had an impact on the recurrence rate in patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). It found that in patients with early-stage HL who responded fully to chemotherapy, the addition of radiotherapy reduced the risk of localized recurrence. 

Early-stage HL is usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Chemotherapy is the first treatment. After this is completed there is often no evidence of cancer remaining on detailed scans. It is unclear if radiotherapy is necessary in these patients.

628 patients with early-stage HL participated in this study. All patients had no evidence of cancer on PET scans, following 2 rounds of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) chemotherapy treatment. Group 1 (328 patients) also received radiotherapy. Group 2 (300 patients) did not receive radiotherapy. Patients were followed for an average of 47 months.

Localized recurrence (recurrence in the same area as the original tumor) of lymphoma occurred in 2.4% of patients who received radiotherapy, compared to 10.5% of patients who did not receive radiotherapy. There were no significant complications associated with radiotherapy.

This study showed that the risk of localized recurrence was reduced in patients with early-stage HL who received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, compared to chemotherapy alone. 

Further studies are needed to see if the risk of recurrence remains lower with radiotherapy after a longer period of time.