In a nutshell
This study investigated the potential benefits of radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who have achieved a complete metabolic response (CMR) after ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine)-based chemotherapy.
The data showed no significant difference in patient outcomes between observation and consolidation RT in these patients.
Some background
ABVD is a standard treatment for patients with HL. Modern-day evaluation of cancer responding to chemotherapy is typically assessed with positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT). Consolidation RT is commonly given to patients with bulky disease (a considerable tumor burden) after ABVD chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells left after chemotherapy. However, whether this consolidation RT is actually beneficial in patients with bulky disease is still unknown.
Methods & findings
116 patients with advanced HL who have received ABVD therapy were included. All patients had no evidence of disease on PET/CT after treatment. Patients were then randomly assigned to 2 groups. Group 1 included 58 patients who received consolidation RT. Group 2 included 58 patients who did not receive consolidation treatment and were only observed. The average follow-up period was 71 months.
After 2 years, the percentage of patients who remained cancer-free was 89.6% in group 1 and 85.8% in group 2.
After 2 years, patients in group 2 were 30% less likely to survive without cancer worsening than patients in group 1. However, this difference was not considered significant.
The bottom line
The authors showed no significant difference in patient outcomes after treatment with consolidation RT versus observation in patients with HL and bulky disease treated with ABVD.
The fine print
This study reported results on a small group of patients. Increasing this number would enable more reliable statistics.
Published By :
Blood advances
Date :
Oct 01, 2021
