Chemotherapy Alone for Early-Stage Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Extensive radiation therapy was the first therapeutic advance in the treatment of early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma. More recently, less extensive radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy has resulted in the lowest reported rates of early relapse. The HD10 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00265018) of the German Hodgkin Study Group showed that among patients with very favorable stage I or II Hodgkin's lymphoma, the outcome in those who received only two cycles of chemotherapy with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) plus involved-field radiation therapy in reduced doses was similar to the outcome in those who received four cycles of chemotherapy and involved-field . . .