MOPP chemotherapy for advanced Hodgkin's disease. Prognostic factors in 81 patients

Abstract

Eighty-one patients with advanced active Hodgkin's disease began treatment with MOPP combination chemotherapy. No patients were excluded from analysis. Twenty-one patients (26%) were induction failures and manifested a median survival of 9 months from the initiation of treatment. Sixty patients (74%) achieved a complete remission (CR) with an estimated median duration of CR of 26 months. Seventeen patients relapsed and 14 of these occurred during the first 6 months of follow-up. Reinduction with MOPP in this group was unsuccessful in eight of eight instances. Prior radiotherapy (60 cases) and prior chemotherapy (21 cases) did not adversely affect the results of treatment. However, a decreased duration of remission correlated with older age, the presence of systemic symptoms, and bone marrow involvement.