Klin Onkol 2000; 13(3): 88-90.
Summary: Background: Elderly patients with Hodgkin´s disease are carrying worse prognosis than young patients because of the intolerance of full-dose curative treatment. Design and subject: Our retrospective study summarizes the treatment results of 52 Hodgkin´ s disease patients older than 60 years in the period between 1973-1993. These patients were treated with combination of less toxic chemotherapy schedule (COPP) and involved-field radiotherapy techniques. The aim was to maintain an acceptable quality of life in spite of lower complete remission rate. Results: We found two independent prognostic factors for both disease free and overall survival: stage of the disease and accomplishment of the treatment. Combined modality treatment yielded better results than chemotherapy only. Tolerance of the treatment was excellent. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that combination of mild chemotherapy with limited radiotherapy is a feasible way of treating elderly patients suffering from Hodgkin´s disease.
