ABSTRACT
90 patients suffering from Hodgkin's disease, 32 in stages I and II, 42 in stage III and 16 in stage IV have been studied retrospectively. The first were treated with supra and subdiaphragmatic extensive radiotherapy, the second with total nodal or polychemotherapy (MOPP), the third with polychemotherapy. Results were highly satisfactory in stages I and II with a complete remission rate of 100% (duration: 4/100 months) and with survival of 91.8% at 7 years. At the 3rd stage, total nodal therapy led to complete remission in 73.3% of patients (9--46 months) with 5-year survival of 76.1%; at this stage, polychemotherapy induced complete remission in 65.2% of cases (6--34 months) with 4-year survival of 64%. Much worse were the results of polychemotherapy in the IVth stage. The same series has been reconsidered with allowance for explorative laparotomy by splenectomy carried out in 15 patients in I-II stage and treated with extensive radiotherapy, in 7 IIIrd stage patients subjected to total nodal therapy and in 10 in IIIrd stage treated with MOPP. In IIIrd stage splenectomized patients, the incidence of recurrences is lower than in the controls and independent of treatment. The lower incidence of recurrences also observed in I-II stage cannot be evaluated for the moment.
