[Treatment possibilities of recurrences of lymphogranulomatosis]

The authors present seven typical cases chosen from a group of thirty patients with recurrent Hodgkin's disease. One out of these patients suffered from two recurrences, five patients from three recurrences each, and one patient from six recurrences. The observation period, beginning with the primary treatment, was between five and 16 years. None of the patients was exclusively irradiated or only treated by cytostatic drugs. Therefore after primary radiotherapy in the stages I to III A, later recurrences could often be successfully treated by an alternating application of cytostatic drugs and repeated radiotherapy. After primary chemotherapy of the advanced primary stages III B to IV B, too, a remission of the second and third recurrence could often be achieved by radiotherapy. Furthermore, the application of alternative schemes such as Holoxan-Vepesid has to be taken into account in the treatment of recurrences. The repeated application of C-MOPP after an interval of at least twelve months also produces good rates of response. The present results allow to make the conclusion that a successful treatment of the second and third and even of further recurrences is possible by a combined application of irradiation and cytostatic therapy.