ABSTRACT
The current consensus is to offer patients with good-risk factors, three cycles of combination chemotherapy (ABVD or similar) followed by “involved field” radiotherapy; patients with high-risk factors are offered four cycles of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. The risk factors, which were initially collated by the Groupe d’Études des Lymphomes de l’Adulte (GELA) in the mid 1980s, and validated since, are depicted in Table 9.1. Such an approach appears to reduce the risk of acute and long-term (delayed) toxicity whilst maintaining a very high remission rate. A longer follow-up period is of course required to confirm long term safety. A topical current challenge is to determine if short-term combination chemotherapy might accord potential cure to patients with early-stage HL, without the use of radiotherapy. The individual drugs used are discussed below.
