Treatment Outcome of a Multi-Centre Clinical Study of Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Report by Hong Kong Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Study Group

Background: Hodgkin's lymphoma is an uncommon childhood cancer.

Methods: The 5 regional hospitals in Hong Kong started to use a uniformed treatment protocol for children with Hodgkin's lymphoma from 1st February 2000. The clinical data were collected prospectively.

Results: Up till 31 December 2012, forty children were diagnosed to have Hodgkin's lymphoma. The median age was 13.8 years (2.8 to 17.9). Male to female ratio was 1.2 to 1. The median follow up duration was 6 years (0.1 to 12.9). The clinical stages were 20% for stage 1 (n = 8), 47.5% for stage 2 (n = 19), 12.5% for stage 3 (n = 5), and 20% for stage 4 (n = 8). Seven patients (17.5%) had B symptoms. Fourteen cases (35%) got bulk diseases. The histological subtypes were nodular sclerosis (n = 24; 60%), lymphocyte predominant (n = 6; 15%), mixed cellularity (n = 5; 12.5%), and unclassified (n = 5; 12.5%). The organs involved by the disease were combination of sites in 67.5% of patients (n = 27), 25% in head and neck regions (n = 10), and 7.5% in peripheral area (n = 3). COPP/ABV chemotherapy was given to the patients. Thirteen patients (32.5%) had low-dose involved field radiotherapy. Thirty eight patients (95%) had complete remission after treatment. Four patients (10%) had relapse of the disease. Autologous stem cell transplantation was performed in three patients with after relapse. The 5-years overall survival (OS) rate was 100% and event-free survival (EFS) rate was 88.9%.

Conclusion: The treatment outcome was good and the results were comparable to the published literature.