Correlates of survival after initiation of chemotherapy in 142 cases of Hodgkin's disease

Abstract

A series of 142 patients with Hodgkin's disease of the nodular sclerosis and mixed histologic types who received chemotherapy is presented. Seventy-six of the patients had received radiotherapy before chemotherapy. The median survival after institution of chemotherapy was 20 months. Regardless of sex or histologic type, die 10-29 age group significantly outlived the 60+ age group. The nodular sclerosis histologic type was superior to the mixed type only within the 30-59 age group. Within any particular age-histology subgroup, the females did not significantly outlive the males. Overall, however, the females tended to be younger than the males and to have more nodular sclerosis, both of which conferred an advantage. The data also suggest that chemotherapy in Hodgkin's disease may prolong life.