Diagnostic planning using computer assisted decision-making for the patient with Hodgkin's disease

For the management of Hodgkin's disease, a number of decisions must be made in order to assure selection of the best treatment for the individual patient. Data can be organized so that one can approach the management of a cohort of patients using the technique of Decision Analysis to determine in an individual patient what degree of certainty is necessary to allow one to select the best treatment, and which tests will provide that information at minimal cost. Using the technique of Decision Analysis in approaching the management of Hodgkin's Disease, we have thus been able not only to deal-with problems for which adequate data are available but also to anticipate outcomes given variable data. The approach allows one to make the best decision possible within certain ranges of uncertainty.