[Hodgkin's disease treated with chemotherapy at reduced dosage]

Fifty-six patients with Hodgkin's disease in advanced stages (III-IV) were entered in a study aimed to compare standard doses (28 cases) with low doses (28 cases) ABVD regimen. Both groups had similar clinico-pathological features. The group receiving standard doses chemotherapy achieved complete remission rate of 89% versus 85% for the low-doses group. The number of relapses was, respectively, 8 and 9, and the duration of remission was 66 and 57 months, respectively. Presently, 24 patients have died, 11 of the standard doses group and 13 of the reduced doses group. Toxicity was notably higher in the group receiving standard dosage, where fatal myelosuppression was present in two instances. Those data appear to suggest that chemotherapy with reduced doses for Hodgkin's disease can attain similar response rate and survival than those achieved with standard treatment, with the advantages of a lower toxicity.