title: Hodgkin's lymphoma in children aged 5 years or less - the United Kingdom experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to describe the natural history of Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) in a large unselected group of children aged 5 years or below at diagnosis, who were treated on a standard treatment programme in the United Kingdom between 1982 and 2000.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-one unselected children with HL aged 5 years or under at diagnosis, treated on the United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) Hodgkin's trials HD1 (1982-1992) and HD2 (1992-2000), were included in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-one patients (81%) presented with early stage disease (n=66). Fifty-three patients (65%) received combination chemotherapy, 28 (34%) received involved field radiotherapy (IF-RT) and 4 patients were treated with combined modality therapy. Eighteen children relapsed after primary therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children treated with IF-RT had a higher rate of primary treatment failures as well as increased late treatment-related morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, University College Hospital NHS Trust, 1st Floor, West Wing, 250, Euston Road, London NW1 2PG, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stoneham
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pinkerton
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hewitt
authors.forename: W H B
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Shankar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000401:mortality; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D017211:Treatment Failure; D006113:United Kingdom