[Radiotherapy alone in early stages of low malignancy non-Hodgkin lymphomas]

About 25% of patients with low grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas (NHL) of the B-cell type present in an early stage. They are candidates for radiotherapy alone. Thereby a complete remission can be achieved in the majority of stage I and II patients with centroblastic-centrocytic (cb-cc), centrocytic (cc) and immunocytic (ic) NHL--at least in cb-cc also a relapse-free survival of 50-60%. Standardization of the radiotherapeutic technique is essential to reduce the risk of recurrence. Retrospective analyses of radiotherapeutic studies from the literature are limited by the lack of homogenous irradiation techniques. Relapses occur inside as well outside of radiotherapy ports. It is the aim of current studies to optimize the radiotherapeutic approach with curative intent.