Hodgkin's disease: management of first relapse

In most patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's disease, initial therapy is curative. However, a small portion of patients treated with radiotherapy alone for limited favorable disease, and a larger percentage of patients treated with combination chemotherapy, with or without radiotherapy, for advanced-stage or unfavorable disease relapse after initial remission. Patients relapsing after radiotherapy alone should do as well with salvage combination chemotherapy as patients with advanced disease who have never received radiation. In patients who relapse after combination chemotherapy, retreatment with the same regimen or employment of a non-cross-resistant regimen offers high response rates among those with favorable characteristics. However, long-term disease-free survival is achieved in a minority of these patients, and in even fewer of those with early relapse or other unfavorable characteristics. High-dose therapy with autografting shows the greatest promise in the treatment of patients at relapse.