Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 15, 3060-3066, Copyright © 1997 by American Society of Clinical Oncology

ARTICLES

Clinical presentation and outcome in lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's disease

S Bodis, MD Kraus, G Pinkus, B Silver, ME Kadin, GP Canellos, LN Shulman, NJ Tarbell and PM Mauch
Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

PURPOSE: The patterns of presentation, histologic pattern (nodular or diffuse), treatment, and long-term outcome were studied in patients with lymphocyte-predominant (LP) Hodgkin's disease (HD) to determine whether these patients should be treated differently than patients with other subtypes of HD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Pathology was reviewed for 97 patients with an initial diagnosis of LPHD made between 1970 and 1993. Seventy-five patients had LPHD on review: 55 had nodular LPHD, 14 had diffuse LPHD, and six had LP histology without subclassification. There were 60 males (80%) and 15 females (20%). Sixty-six patients (88%), presented with clinical stage (CS) I or II disease. Seventy-one patients were treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy (JCRT) and were considered for analysis of treatment outcome. Sixty-one of these 71 were treated with radiation (RT) alone; 17 received mantle RT alone, 27 mantle and paraaortic RT, and seven total-nodal irradiation (TNI). Ten patients with subdiaphragmatic HD received pelvic and paraaortic RT. Of the 10 remaining patients, four were treated with RT and chemotherapy (CT) and six were treated with CT alone. The median follow-up time was 10.8 years. RESULTS: The 10-year actuarial freedom- from-first-relapse (FFR) and 10-year overall survival rates for the 71 patients with LPHD treated at the JCRT were 80% and 93%, respectively. The 10-year actuarial FFR by nodular (n = 51), diffuse (n = 14), and unspecified (n = 6) histologic pattern was 74%, 100%, and 60%, respectively. Overall, 14 of 71 patients have relapsed: nine of 61 with stage IA, IB, or IIA disease and five of 10 with stage IIB to IVB disease have relapsed. The median time to relapse was 53 months. Nine of 71 patients have died. Only one death has been from HD: five patients died of second cancers, two of cardiac disease, and one of alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Of seven patients with second malignancies, five died. None of the second malignancies were non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). CONCLUSION: Patients with LPHD have different patterns of presentation, sex and age distribution, and likelihood of occult abdominal disease than patients with nodular-sclerosing (NS) or mixed- cellularity (MC) disease. The median time to relapse for LP patients was later than reported for other histologic subtypes; however, there was no pattern of continuous late relapse. With pathologic staging and standard treatment, mortality from LPHD is low; nearly all deaths have been cardiac- or second tumor-related. This suggests that less aggressive treatment for LPHD might continue to yield excellent results, while perhaps lowering the long-term risk of complications.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Nogova, T. Rudiger, and A. Engert Biology, Clinical Course and Management of Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma Hematology, January 1, 2006; 2006(1): 266 - 272. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Nogova, T. Reineke, H. T. Eich, A. Josting, H. K. Muller-Hermelink, K. Wingbermuhle, C. Brillant, A. Gossmann, J. Oertel, M. V. Bollen, et al. Extended field radiotherapy, combined modality treatment or involved field radiotherapy for patients with stage IA lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's lymphoma: a retrospective analysis from the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) Ann. Onc., October 1, 2005; 16(10): 1683 - 1687. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Shimabukuro-Vornhagen, H. Haverkamp, A. Engert, L. Balleisen, P. Majunke, G. Heil, H. T. Eich, H. Stein, V. Diehl, and A. Josting Lymphocyte-Rich Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Clinical Presentation and Treatment Outcome in 100 Patients Treated Within German Hodgkin's Study Group Trials J. Clin. Oncol., August 20, 2005; 23(24): 5739 - 5745. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Feugier, E. Labouyrie, M. Djeridane, A. Jenabian, V. Dubruille, C. Berthou, C. Ghandour, B. Desablens, Y. Chait, P. Casassus, et al. Comparison of initial characteristics and long-term outcome of patients with lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and classical Hodgkin lymphoma at clinical stages IA and IIA prospectively treated by brief anthracycline-based chemotherapies plus extended high-dose irradiation Blood, November 1, 2004; 104(9): 2675 - 2681. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Pellegrino, M.J. Terrier-Lacombe, O. Oberlin, T. Leblanc, Y. Perel, Y. Bertrand, C. Beard, C. Edan, C. Schmitt, D. Plantaz, et al. Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Children: Therapeutic Abstention After Initial Lymph Node Resection--A Study of the French Society of Pediatric Oncology J. Clin. Oncol., August 1, 2003; 21(15): 2948 - 2952. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. C. Ekstrand, J. B. Lucas, S. M. Horwitz, Z. Fan, S. Breslin, R. T. Hoppe, Y. Natkunam, N. L. Bartlett, and S. J. Horning Rituximab in lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin disease: results of a phase 2 trial Blood, June 1, 2003; 101(11): 4285 - 4289. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Franke, I. Wlodarska, B. Maes, P. Vandenberghe, R. Achten, A. Hagemeijer, and C. De Wolf-Peeters Comparative Genomic Hybridization Pattern Distinguishes T-Cell/Histiocyte-Rich B-Cell Lymphoma from Nodular Lymphocyte Predominance Hodgkin's Lymphoma Am. J. Pathol., November 1, 2002; 161(5): 1861 - 1867. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. Connors, E. M. Noordijk, and S. J. Horning Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Basing the Treatment on the Evidence Hematology, January 1, 2001; 2001(1): 178 - 193. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Aster Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin's Disease: How Little Therapy Is Enough? J. Clin. Oncol., March 1, 1999; 17(3): 744 - 744. [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Diehl, M. Sextro, J. Franklin, M.-L. Hansmann, N. Harris, E. Jaffe, S. Poppema, M. Harris, K. Franssila, J. van Krieken, et al. Clinical Presentation, Course, and Prognostic Factors in Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin's Disease and Lymphocyte-Rich Classical Hodgkin's Disease: Report From the European Task Force on Lymphoma Project on Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin's Disease J. Clin. Oncol., March 1, 1999; 17(3): 776 - 776. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. C. Aisenberg Problems in Hodgkin's Disease Management Blood, February 1, 1999; 93(3): 761 - 779. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Wirth, M. Chao, J. Corry, C. Laidlaw, K. Yuen, G. Ryan, D. Byram, S. Davis, J. Kiffer, G. Quong, et al. Mantle Irradiation Alone for Clinical Stage I-II Hodgkin's Disease: Long-Term Follow-Up and Analysis of Prognostic Factors in 261 Patients J. Clin. Oncol., January 1, 1999; 17(1): 230 - 230. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]