J. Wolf et al., Current clinical trials for the treatment of adult Hodgkin's disease: Common strategies and perspectives, ANN ONCOL, 9, 1998, pp. 79-82
Strategies in the treatment of adult Hodgkin's disease (HD) are changing st
rikingly in current clinical trials. In early as well as in intermediate st
age HD a common aim of most study groups now is the reduction of radiation
dose and volume in order to minimize severe late effects like myocardial da
mage and secondary neoplasias. As a consequence extended field irradiation
is abandoned in nearly all trials, and combined modality treatment will be
used not only in intermediate. but also in early stage HD. In advanced stag
e HD new chemotherapy regimens, based on the principle of a moderate dose e
scalation, for the first time seem to improve the therapeutic outcome. Thus
, the priority in current clinical trials for advanced stage HD is the long
-term evaluation of these new regimens with regard to treatment efficacy an
d toxicity.