Radiation Therapy Techniques in the Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease

Treatment of Hodgkin's disease with radiotherapy requires awareness of risk for subclinical disease and patterns of spread in assisting in the design of treatment volumes. This desire to treat larger volume needs to be balanced against concern for normal tissue toxicity. Traditionally, there have been "standard" field sizes for various disease presentations; however, the more recent trend has been to select patients in such a manner as to minimize long-term toxicity while increasing or maintaining disease-free survival. This has most commonly involved elimination of laparotomy and decreasing field sizes and radiation doses in specific situations. This article discusses the appropriate dose and treatment for the treatment of Hodgkin's disease.