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The effect of diagnostic delay in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma
1Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Tromsø, Norway.
Background:
The aim of the study was to document the delay in diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease (HD) and clarify the impact on clinical stage and survival in our region.
Material And Methods:
A retrospective study of the records of 50 patients treated for primary HD in northern-Norway in the time period 1985 - 1993 was performed in November 1994. The diagnostic delay related to clinical stage, age, sex, relapse or death were registered.
Results:
The median delay was 4 months (range 0 - 48 months). The histological subgroup lymphocyte predominance (LP) HD had a significant prolonged delay (p = 0.038). There was no correlation between delay in diagnosis and age, sex, B-symptoms, stage of disease, recurrent disease or death of disease.
Conclusion:
The diagnostic delay in patients with HD does not seem to have any significant influence on stage distribution, relapse rate or short-term survival. The aggressiveness of the tumour may be the important parameter.