New Scoring System Devised for Youth with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

SAN DIEGO – A simple scoring system identified a subset of young patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma who are predicted to have an event-free survival rate of less than 80%.

The system, known as the Childhood Hodgkin International Prognostic Score (CHIPS), found that four factors were predictive of worse event-free survival: stage IV disease, large mediastinal adenopathy, albumin level of less than 3.5 g/dL, and fever, Dr. Cindy L. Schwartz reported during a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

She and her associates with the Children’s Oncology Group evaluated 1,721 patients with intermediate risk Hodgkin’s lymphoma who were younger than age 21 and treated on AHOD0031: a phase III study of dose-intensive therapy.

The current study involved tailoring treatment by early response in 770 patients who were randomized or assigned to receive the same treatment (four cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone and cyclophosphamide (ABVE-PC) and 21 Gy involved field radiotherapy (IFRT).

According to Dr. Schwartz, director of the division of pediatric hematology/oncology at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Providence, R.I., rapid early response was defined as a two-dimensional tumor reduction of greater than 60% on CT after two cycles of ABVE-PC. Complete response was defined as a greater than 80% two-dimensional reduction by CT, and resolution of nuclear imaging abnormalities. Read more...

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