Persistent mediastinal mass is not indicative of recurrence after chemotherapy only in paediatric Hodgkin's disease.
Most patients with Hodgkin's disease are treated with chemotherapy in conjunction with radiotherapy, but at the end of treatment a residual mass is often present. After combined therapy, it has been assumed that no additional treatment is needed. However, for children treated without radiotherapy, no data exist on the relevance of a residual mediastinal mass to risk of relapse. We report on the findings of follow-up thorax radiographs of a group of 27 children with initial mediastinal involvement, who were treated with chemotherapy only. We conclude that the regression rate of the mediastinal mass was not related to a later recurrence. Regression after chemotherapy without radiotherapy is probably slower than after combined therapy. We consider chest radiograph examinations to be appropriate for the follow-up of tumour regression. When the data were compared with a group of children with Hodgkin's disease without mediastinal involvement, we found that survival was not related to initial mediastinal involvement.
Van Den Berg
H
H
Department of Paediatric Oncology, Emma Children Hospital AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. h.vandenberg@amc.uva.nl
Verhulst
L
L
Behrendt
H
H
Staalman
C R
CR
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D011859:Radiography; D015996:Survival Rate