Combined Modality Treatment of Two or Four Cycles of ABVD Followed by Involved Field Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Patients with Early Stage Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: Update Interim Analysis of the Randomised HD10 Study of the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG).

Combined modality treatment is regarded as standard by most study groups for patients with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). However, the optimal chemotherapy, the number of cycles needed and the optimal radiotherapy dose is still unclear. The GHSG thus conducted a randomised study for patients with early stage favourable Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HD10) in which these questions were addressed.

A total of 1370 patients were randomised from 5/1998 to 1/2003 between two or four cycles of ABVD and independently to 20Gy or 30Gy involved field (IF) radiotherapy.

For the second interim analysis at a median follow up of 28 months, 847 patients were available. Patients were equally balanced for age, gender, stage, histology, performance status and risk factors. Compared with two cycles, there was more toxicity in patients receiving four cycles of ABVD for leucopenia, hair loss and infection. Concerning radiotherapy dose, there was more toxicity associated with 30Gy for dysphagia, mucositis and leucopenia. The rate of complete remissions ranged between 98% and 99% with no significant differences among treatment arms. Freedom from treatment failure (FFTF) and overall survival showed no differences between the four treatment arms. The curves for overall survival and FFTF were nearly superimposable for all four arms.

This analysis suggests that 2 chemotherapy cycles with involved field radiotherapy may be sufficient for patients with early favourable HL, but a reliable assessment must await the final analysis including all randomised patients and with adequate follow-up. The results of the third interim analysis (10/2005) including 1110 patients with a median follow up of more than 3 years will be presented.