Standard CHOP-21 as First Line Treatment for Elderly Patients with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Background: Outcome for elderly patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma is not as good as for younger patients, partly due to inferior capability to tolerate appropriate chemotherapy. There is no consensus on standard treatment. In 2000 we introduced CHOP-21 as standard chemotherapy for elderly Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients at our institution with the aim to improve treatment results. CHOP-21 is known to be well tolerated in older patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and contains active drugs for Hodgkin’s disease.

Patients and methods: Twenty-nine consequtive patients admitted to our institution from 2000–2004, 60 years and older with Hodgkin’s lymphoma were included in this retrospective survey. Stage I/IIA patients received 2–4 cycles of CHOP-21 followed by 30–35 Gy involved field radiotherapy. Stage IIB-IV patients were treated with 6–8 cycles of CHOP-21. Selected cases received 30–35 Gy involved field radiotherapy against residual tumors.

Results: The median age was 71 years (range 60–91). Sixty-two percent presented in stage IIB-IV and 38% in stage I-IIA. Forty-five percent of the early stage patients had bulky disease and/or elevated SR. For the advanced stage patients IPS score of 2–3 was the most common category (72%). B-symptoms occurred in 52% of the total population. Nodular sclerosis was the most frequent histology subgroup (38%), followed by mixed cellularity (17%). Fifty-five percent had co-morbidity prior to treatment, cardiac conditions were most common. Two cases of treatment-related deaths were seen (7%). The most common toxicity during therapy was febrile neutropenia (31%). Treatment modifications were necessary in 38% of cases. The complete response rate after CHOP +/− radiotherapy was as high as 93%. Median follow-up for the whole population is now three years. Five patients have relapsed, and four have died from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Total overall survival (OS) at three year was 80%, and better for the stage I-IIA subgroup (90% versus 60%). Total Hodgkin-specific survival (HSS) at three years was 73%, and 80% versus 60% for early and advanced stages, respectively. No relapses have occurred after 2 years.

Conclusion: The data shows that CHOP-21 is a well tolerated and highly effective first line treatment for elderly patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Of particular interest were the findings that advanced stage patients did so well and that no relapses have been seen after two years.